Introduction

Enforcement mechanisms

Part XII of the Resource Management Act 1991 (the ‘RMA’ or the ‘Act’) provides the following enforcement mechanisms:

• infringement offence
• abatement notice
• excessive noise direction
• application for enforcement order
• application for interim enforcement order
• prosecution
• water shortage direction
• emergency works
• an application for a declaration.

Territorial authorities can use all of the enforcement mechanisms except for water shortage directions, which can only be issued by the 12 regional councils and the four unitary authorities. Regional councils and unitary authorities can use all of the enforcement mechanisms.

The Resource Management Amendment Act 1996, which came into force on 2 September 1996, added sections regarding infringement offences (sections 343A-D). Infringement offences are defined in the Resource Management (Infringement Offences) Regulations 1999.

Monitoring and the requirement to take enforcement action

Local authorities are required by the Act to monitor, respond to complaints and, when necessary, take enforcement action.

Section 30 states the functions of regional councils. Section 31 states the functions of territorial authorities.

In Canterbury Regional Council v Canterbury Frozen Meat Company Ltd, A14/94 the Planning Tribunal considered that the Council would have failed in the duty of control imposed on it by s 30 if it had complacently omitted to take enforcement action.

Section 35 of the Act imposes a duty on local authorities to:

• gather information, and undertake or commission research, to fulfil their functions under the Act
• monitor the matters specified in subsection (2) and take appropriate action (having regard to the methods available to local authorities under the Act) where this is shown to be necessary; the local authority must, at intervals of not more that five years, compile and make available to the public a review of the results of its monitoring
• keep a summary of written complaints received during the preceding five years concerning alleged breaches of the Act or plan, and information on how the local authority dealt with each complaint
• keep records of all applications for resource consents, all decisions under sections 93 to 94C, records of all resources consents granted, and records of the transfer of any resource consent (Section 41 of the RMA).

Section 84 of the Act requires every local authority to observe and enforce observance of every operative policy statement or plan.