Appeals

An appeal is filed with the Environment Court where a submitter or further submitter disagrees with any aspect of the decision. It could be an appeal on a single rule such as the maximum height of buildings, or a broader topic. However, an appeal cannot request the withdrawal of the entire plan or appeal against the plan as a whole.

The appeal process is different to the previous process which was managed by Council and the independent Hearings Panel. Appeals are managed by the Environment Court.  This means that the Court determines the process, although it often seeks input from Council (and its advisors) and all other parties (both appellants and interested parties).

Any person who made a submission or further submission on a provision or part of the Proposed District Plan may appeal to the Environment Court in respect of that provision or matter.

Any person who made a submission on a proposed policy statement or plan may appeal to the Environment Court in respect of the decisions of the local authority on submissions, in respect of provisions or matters to which their submission referred. 

A notice of appeal must be prepared in accordance with Form 7 and lodged with the Environment Court within 30 working days of the decision being notified.

More information can be found here. 

Appeals can take some time to resolve, although the Environment Court tries to ensure progress is being made by imposing timeframes for reporting back to the Court. There are a number of avenues that appeals can be worked through, such as negotiation and Court-assisted mediation, and parties are encouraged to explore these before an appeal progresses to a Court hearing.

Yes, parts of the Proposed District Plan could change through the appeals process, depending on the nature of the appeals. 

If you have received notice of an appeal and you made a submission on the subject matter of that appeal, you can give notice to the Environment Court that you wish to join the appeal by becoming what is called ‘a section 274 party’. A section 274 party to an appeal is someone who wishes to support or oppose an appeal point.

If you did not make a submission on the subject matter of an appeal, you may be eligible to become a party to an appeal if you meet the specific criteria. Not everyone can become a party to an appeal. To be a section 274 party, you must be either:

• the Minister for the Environment;
• a local authority;
• a person who has an interest in the proceedings that is greater than the public generally (excluding any person or business who may be a trade competitor and is acting to prevent the applicant from engaging in trade competition); or
• a person who made a submission about the matter.

Any eligible person who wishes to become a party to any appeal under section 274 of the Resource Management Act must give notice to the Environment Court, the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council and the appellant within a further 15 working days after the period for lodging appeals ends.

If you are considering becoming a section 274 party, we suggest that you seek your own legal advice.

Clause 16 of the Resource Management Act allows Council to make amendments of minor effect, or to correct any minor errors. Any errors that are more significant can only be corrected through an appeal or a variation to the Plan.