Regional resource consent costs rise

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 679, 25 March 1997, Page 9

Regional resource consent costs rise

User charges for notified resource consents and some monitor ing activities provided by the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council may rise from 1 July 1997. Last week the Regional Council voted to increase charges for consent applications, staff inspection of properties and water management, subject to submissions on the draft Annual Plan 1997-98. Deposits for a notified resource consent application would rise from $350 to $500 to more accurately reflect true costs, including newspaper advertising. (Editor's note: The regional council rarely places consent application advertisements in the southern Ruapehu' s newspaper, the Ruapehu Bulletin, even when an application refers specifically to a site within the southern Ruapehu area). Council' s director of resources Dr Cowie said the average cost of processing a notified consent application is in excess of $500 and the current deposit against costs of $350 is too low. "The costs of holding pre-hearing meetings for notified resource

consent applications will no longer be included in the application fee. The costs of holding these pre-hearings will be recovered from the applicant as appropriate," said Dr Cowie. Other proposed increases cover the monitoring of small discharges to land, land use inspections for gravel takes and discharges to water. The annual charges of ground water and surface water monitoring also rise. First increase 'This is the first increase in resource management user charges since the introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991. The Regional Council is entitled to recover actual and reasonable costs for specific activities under this Act," said Dr Cowie. The new charges willdraw extrarevenueestimatedat$l 10,000 in 1997, with the balance of the costs continuing to be met from the general rate. * Chairman Don Linklater said the Council' s policy of approximately one-third recovery from resource users is generous and that resource management activities are still largely paid for from the general rate," .