Preparing an Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE)

Introduction	How do I prepare an AEE?
Assessment of Environmental Effects	Written approval of affected persons
Matters to be included in an AEE	Why am I being requested to give my approval?
Issues to be considered	'Making an application' home page

How do I prepare an AEE?

If you are not sure about what to do please ask for assistance from our Council Resource Planners, or engage a consultant to prepare the AEE and other related documents. However it is not the role of the Council Resource Planner to prepare your AEE. When you start to consider your proposal:

think about the likely effects of the proposed activity or structure on the environment, and the ways that these effects can be reduced, avoided, remedied or mitigated
be flexible in the design or location of the proposed activity or structure, if necessary

To start preparing an AEE, you should follow these steps:

Identify the potential adverse effects

Understand why the proposed development fails to comply with the District Plan rules. Consider these aspects of non-compliance, and list the effects that they may have on the environment. For example, effects arising from the development may be shading, loss of vegetation, earthworks, flooding, visual impacts, noise, infrastructure, scale or dominance of the building/s, lack of parking or vehicle turning spaces, and/or development of contaminated or unstable land. You should also consider the scale, intensity, duration or frequency of the effect.

Methods for managing the effects

For each of the potential adverse effects identified, consider how these will be avoided, remedied or mitigated and prepare a statement about this. If identified at an early stage, some effects from a proposal may be reasonably simple to resolve (for example by changing the design or location of a building, changing the machinery to be used, or changing the hours of operation). Other effects may be technical, such as noise, traffic, wind or glare. To adequately address these matters in your AEE, you may need to employ an expert (for example an Acoustic Engineer, Geotechnical Engineer, Traffic Consultant, Landscape Architect or Urban Designer) to assist you. Reports by these experts are prepared separately, can be referred to in the AEE, and a copy of these submitted with the AEE.

Alternative locations and measures

If the adverse effects identified are significant (especially for a non-complying activity), state what alternative locations and methods you have explored for the activity. For example, other sites or designs may have been investigated but found to be unsuitable for various reasons. This information may be provided in the AEE too.

Consultation

Before the application is lodged with Council, you should consult with all parties who may be actually or potentially affected by the proposed development. How you consult with these parties will depend on the nature and scale of the anticipated effects. For some proposals, you may only need to consult the immediate neighbours but for other proposals a whole neighbourhood may need to be consulted.

The proposal may affect Maori. In these cases please contact a Council Resource Planner for advice and to obtain contact details for Iwi representatives.

When undertaking consultation, you should:

ensure that the reasons for the resource consent are clearly stated
provide copies of plans and as much information as possible.

You will need to allow a reasonable time for the parties to fully understand the proposal. Your contact details should be provided, to enable any person or group to obtain any clarification or more information, or to provide a response.

You will need to supply the Council with:

information about any consultation undertaken with persons who may be interested in or affected by the proposal
a list of the names and addresses of those who have given their written approval (completed written approval forms and signed plans should be attached to the application)
remember to get the address, names and signatures of all occupiers and owners. Where the property is jointly owned the consents of all owners, trustees, or directors of a company are required.

The advantages of consultation include:

helping to maintain good relations between all parties
enabling clarification to be sought from other parties if required, and providing a way for other options to be suggested and considered
helping to minimise any suspicion, fear or misunderstanding about the proposal
gaining written approval for the proposal from affected parties

Monitoring

In the AEE you are expected to state the monitoring strategy that you propose to implement. This will include details about who will monitor those effects generated by the proposed development (for example noise, traffic generation, and hours of operation). Please note that you will be required to meet the costs of monitoring.

All other matters?

The Fourth Schedule of the Resource Management Act 1991 should be used to ensure that all the relevant matters have been covered by your AEE. If you have trouble preparing an AEE or the application is complex, you will need professional help from a consultant.