Media Release

Monday 16 August 2010

Faster Resource and Building Consents at Rodney

Improvements to Rodney District Council's resource and building consent processing procedures have paid off for customers, as information recently released indicates that the Council is now one of the fastest resource and building consent processing authorities in New Zealand. 

In the year to June 2010, the Council processed 97% of resource and building consent applications within statutory timeframes.  In June 2010, 100% of the 286 resource and building consents received were processed on time.   

The average time a Rodney District customer waited to have their building consent processed was 9 working days during the year to June 2010.  Under the Building Act, local authorities may take over twice as long, as consents should be processed within 20 working days of receipt.   

The most recent national data on resource consent processing times was from the year ending June 2008.  This indicates that nationally, only 69% of resource consent applications were processed within statutory timeframes.  

In recent years, Rodney has reviewed its consent processing procedures and made significant improvements in operational efficiency and customer service.  

One example of this was the introduction in January 2009 of a new fast track resource consent process.   The new process was designed to assist people who lodged building consent applications which required accompanying resource consent because of minor infringements to District Plan rules.   

Fast track resource consent applications are processed and issued within the same timeframe as a building consent and enable people to start work once their consent has been issued rather than having to wait until a resource consent is issued.   Fees for fast track consents are also around one third of the cost of a standard resource consent.  Since the new process was introduced 128 customers have benefitted from this service.    

Rodney has also recently started trialling new handheld portable electronic devices which allows tree consents to be issued on site.  After staff have completed a site inspection and have determined that a consent can be granted, they can issue a consent electronically which is simultaneously emailed to the customer, allowing them to begin work immediately.  

Improvements to consent processing mean that the introduction of new regulations, which require Councils to issue a discount of 1 percent per day for every day they hold a resource consent after the statutory processing deadline of 20 working days, will have little impact on Rodney. 

From 1 November consenting services will continue to be provided within Rodney as part of the services provided by the new Auckland Council.  Rodney District Council staff have been working with staff from other Auckland Councils over recent months to prepare for the transition to the new structure.   

The changes to Rodney District Council services over recent years mean that Rodney staff will go into the new Council well prepared to continue to offer high service standards to all customers. 

ENDS 

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