Resource Management

Lakes Environmental staff can help you to understand the District Plan and how it applies to your building project, new business venture or other proposal that may require resource consent.

The Resource Management Act 1991 is the key legislation. It sets out a framework within which councils manage our environment and the effects of development.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has prepared its District Plan in accordance with the Act and has processed a number of Plan Changes that now form part of the plan or may need to be taken into account. Lakes Environmental administers the District Plan, processes all resource consent applications, issues decisions, monitors consent conditions and undertakes compliance and enforcement.

Our enquiries staff can let you know whether your proposal is permitted (no resource consent required) or the type of consent that would be required (land use, subdivision, controlled activity, restricted discretionary, discretionary or non-complying). If your proposal or activity appears to be permitted, it may still breach one or more of the site and zone standards in the District Plan and trigger the need for a consent.  Our staff can explain what consents would be required, provide you with application forms and tell you about the process and the costs.

You may be interested in someone else’s proposal. You can search a list of recently lodged applications or see those that have recently been publicly notified. Anyone may make a submission on a publicly notified application. If an application has been limited notified, only a person who has been served with a copy of the application may make a submission. An applicant may consult you about a proposed development and may request you to sign an affected party approval. Any of these processes can be discussed with our enquiries planner.