The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) requires councils to monitor resource consents, compliance, and complaints. Monitoring consents, compliance and complaints:
- indicates performance in relation to a range of issues
- highlights areas that require further action
- provides feedback that may lead to changes to policies and plans
- contributes to assessing long-term trends over time
- helps councils make informed decisions.
There are close links between this type of monitoring and those for policy and plan effectiveness and state of the environment monitoring. Integrated monitoring informs decision-making by helping determine the need for further action, and by indicating where policies and actions can be improved.
This guidance note does not deal with chain of evidence and enforcement matters. This is addressed in the RMA Enforcement Manual
