Our environmental monitoring and compliance team works to ensure the protection and enhancement of our city’s natural and built environments.
When developing or undertaking any activities on your property, it is your responsibility to comply with the relevant Tauranga City Plan (‘City Plan’) rules, and/or any relevant resource consent conditions. You must also brief any contractor carrying out works on your behalf and make sure that they have a good understanding of these requirements, as you may be responsible for any work they are doing on your behalf.
If you don’t have a resource consent and want to know whether or not what you are planning to do will comply with the City Plan, then reach out to our duty planner. If your activity does not meet City Plan, you may need to apply for a resource consent.
Resource consent monitoring
When your resource consent is granted, you may be assigned an Environmental Monitoring Officer. They may contact you to arrange a site visit, request information required under your consent conditions, or assist with compliance-related enquiries.
Monitoring may include site inspections, desktop reviews, audits of records and reports, and review of compliance documentation. The type and frequency of monitoring depends on the nature of the activity and the level of environmental risk.
If you have any questions about how to ensure you comply with the consent conditions, just contact your assigned Environmental Monitoring Officer. If you don’t know who this is, then send an email to EMAC@tauranga.govt.nz, and they’ll be in touch.
Fees and charges
Monitoring resource consents may incur fees and charges, in line with Council’s planning fees.
Planning fees
Non-compliance and enforcement
Consent conditions and City Plan rules are there to ensure the environment is protected for the community to enjoy, and it’s important that they are complied with. If you think you may have breached a consent condition or City Plan rule, the best thing to do is contact our Environmental Monitoring and Compliance team to discuss.
If you have breached a City Plan rule and/or resource consent condition, you may be subject to enforcement action under the Resource Management Act. Decisions around enforcement generally take into account a range of factors, such as:
- the nature and scale of the non-compliance
- effects generated as a result of the breach
- the cause and intent of the non-compliance
- conduct and previous compliance history of the person responsible
- the level of deterrence required
Formal warnings
A formal warning may be issued for minor non-compliance.
Abatement Notice
A formal direction to comply with the relevant rule/consent, or a direction to take action in order to comply. While an abatement notice is not a punitive action, it is a formal direction and failure to comply with the abatement notice is an offence under the RMA and may result in further enforcement action.
Infringement Notice
An infringement notice is a written notice issued in response to a breach, and carries fines from $600 up to $4,000 depending on the nature of the offence.
Enforcement Order
A formal direction issued by the court; similar to an abatement notice but carries more weight, particularly if not complied with. An enforcement order can be sought in isolation, or as part of a prosecution.
Prosecution
In serious cases, Council may choose to lay criminal charges under the RMA, which can result in a conviction and a fine of up to $1,000,000 for individuals, or $10,000,000 for companies.