Last week was Money Week. I thought every week was money
week but apparently we only need to think about money one week of the year and
the remainder of the time we can think about the various other causes that have
weeks attached to them.
One of the major daily newspapers has been running a series
of columns with money tips from our political leaders. I am not sure why one
would actually ask a politician for money advice when the government
consistently spends more than it earns. It would be more logical to ask for
money advice from those who are good at managing money - but then they are not
chasing votes and most do not seek publicity.
For what it's worth, I thought I would share my two
golden rules about money and more particularly its accumulation. The first rule
is, save when times are good. The second rule is, save when times are hard.
Last week I was involved in a mediation involving a District
Plan Change initiated by the Whangarei District Council regarding Papakainga
developments. While the mediation remains confidential until ratified by the
Environment Court, there are some general comments about mediations that are
worth sharing. But first, let's recap on where mediation fits into the plan
change process.
When a local authority proposes a change to the planning
rules, it goes though a formal plan change process. In simplified terms, it
prepares a draft of the proposal and notifies the public of the proposal. That
notification is in the form of public notices in the newspaper, and in some cases
it writes directly to landowners who may be affected by the change. In the case
of the Papakainga proposal for example, the WDC says it wrote to adjoining
landowners to draw their attention to the plan change proposal (which gives
Papakainga land development rights that do not apply to land generally).
Those who wish to comment on a plan change have a specified
time frame to make a written submission. Council planning staff then review
those submissions and amend the plan change as they believe appropriate. A
hearings panel is then appointed (by council staff and ratified by councillors)
to consider the submissions and hear those who wish to present their submission
in person.
Following the hearing the decision of the panel is put
before councillors to rubber stamp (which they invariably do). If those who
submitted on the plan change disagree with panel's decision they have a right
of appeal to the Environment Court (they become the Appellant). The filing fee
for an appeal is $511.11, but if a matter has been appealed, a submitter will
be notified and given an opportunity to take part in the appeal proceedings as
an interested party (section 274 of the RMA). There is no cost to become an
interested party, but proceedings are limited to the matters raised by the
Appellant.
Before the matter is set down for a hearing date, the
parties to the appeal are required to engage in mediation. The Environment
Court appoints a mediator to facilitate that meeting and try to bring the
parties together to an agreement on some or all aspects of the appeal. If there
are unresolved issues then the matter would be referred to the Environment
Court for a hearing. All Section 274 parties may take part in the mediation.
It's at mediation where most of the contentious planning
issues are usually resolved. Often the parties to a mediation have a particular
interest, like utility companies or environmental activists wanting greater
regulation.
If a matter is agreed or conceded at mediation, there is no
requirement for the local authority to go back to the original submitters to
the plan change, or to councillors, so the plan change that is actually
implemented could be quite different from the one that was advised to the
public and presented to councillors.
That's why it's important for those who may be affected by a
plan change to get involved as a submitter and see their submission through to
mediation. The reality is that few do. Most individuals either have no
understanding of the plan change process, or think it's too hard, or believe
the process is futile and a waste of their time. As a result many planning laws
go unchallenged.
What is quite evident from the mediations I have been
involved with is that local authorities make an assumption that if someone is
not part of the mediation process, then they accept the plan change as
determined by the hearings panel - it's a case of silence is taken as
acceptance.
Frank Newman writes a weekly article for Property Plus.
No comments:
Post a Comment