Planning, consenting and compliance

As part of this level of service we will:

• 34.1 Progress a review of the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement

How did we do: Following a successful hui on 10 March, Te Rōpū Tuia confirmed that the work programme will focus on delivering a Regional Policy Statement (RPS) by 2024 to achieve integrated management of natural and physical resources in Canterbury and work is underway on preparing a draft RPS and Section 32 Report.

As part of this level of service we will:

• 34.2 Work collaboratively with the region’s district and city councils to implement and give effect to the Regional Policy Statement.

How did we do: Each year our planners work with the region's Territorial Authorities (TAs) to provide planning support on issues of regional significance, such as district plan reviews, private plan change requests, district development strategies, bylaws, and regional significant notified resource consent applications. The majority of the work is responsive to the work programmes of the Canterbury TAs but some is led (or jointly led) by Environment Canterbury, particularly in relation to the Greater Christchurch Partnership.

For 2022/23, 35.2 is not measured (Meet all requirements of the RMA for processing for consent applications, for example in relation to making decisions publicly notifying consents or requests for further information)

As part of this level of service we will:

• 35.1 Process resource consent applications in a timely manner

How did we do: For 2022/23, 36.2% of resource consents were processed in accordance with RMA statutory timeframes, down from 91.5% in 2021/22. The factors contributing to the backlog of consents include new regulations, which means a wider range of activities require consents, complexity issues and a nationwide shortage of qualified staff to assess consent applications. We have a plan in place and a cross-organisation approach to addressing this backlog. This includes actively recruiting for more people, ensuring we are communicating with our community and customers, improving our systems and processes and growing our relationship with mana whenua.

As part of this level of service we will:

• 35.3  Monitor priority consents, as identified in the Compliance Five-year Plan, to ensure compliance with consent conditions.

How did we do: 72.7% or 730 of 1,004 high priority consents were monitored. This compares with 76.4% or 674 of 882 high priority consents monitored in 2021/22. The first half of the year was particularly challenging, with winter illness and high staff turnover. As new staff were recruited and trained throughout the year, we were able to focus on the high priority consents and were able to increase the number of priority consents monitored for the year, compared to the previous year.

As part of this level of service we will:

• 35.4 Provide an incident response service to ensure effects of pollution incidents are kept to a minimum.

How did we do: We responded to 83.7% (691) of 826 elevated pollution events within two days. This compares with 82.4% (760) of 922 in 2021/22.

How are we doing: Work is underway to enhance and improve our regulatory processes and procedures to improve delivery of the regulatory lifecycle. Initial remediation plan developed for addressing the consent processing backlog, and we are working to future-proof ourselves to enable us to deliver our regulatory function in an ever-changing environment..

How are we doing: COVID-19 and challenges in recruiting staff have impacted this area of our work. Initial work has been undertaken to explore options for improved delivery of compliance monitoring and enforcement function .

We regularly respond to reports from the community of compost-type smells in the Bromley area. This page shows our latest monitoring information including the number of reports we’ve received and any actions taken.

We publish annual snapshots of consent monitoring activity and our response to environmental pollution incidents. If you are aware of an environmental incident that seems time critical, please call our incident line on 0800 765 588 (24 hours), or report it using the Snap Send Solve app from your mobile phone.