Hearings

• What is a hearing?
• The hearing committee
• The process

What is a hearing?

A hearing is a formal meeting where a ‘hearing committee' considers and decides on whether a notified or limited notified resource consent application should be approved.

The following factsheet 'Pre-hearing meetings and hearings' contains all the information you need about hearings.

The hearing committee

The hearing committee is normally made up of three regional councilors, although ‘specialist' or independent commissioners may be used if considered necessary to provide technical support to the councilors.

Hearings are usually held when issues raised by submitters have not been resolved through consultation, negotiation or a pre-hearing meeting , or if the applicant does not agree with the consent conditions recommended by staff. The hearing gives the applicant and all submitters who stated in their submission that they wish to be heard (whether in support or opposition to an application), the opportunity to formally present their views to the hearing committee. The hearing must take place no more than 25 working days from the closing date of submissions unless the ARC extends this timeframe.

A joint hearing will usually be held if a consent application relating to the same proposal has also been made to another local council.

The process

Before the hearing:

• all parties will receive notice of the date, time and venue for the hearing, at least 10 working days in advance
• the ARC's consents officer's report and recommendations on the application will be circulated to the applicant and to all submitters who indicated that they wished to speak about their submissions at the hearing, a minimum of 5 working days before the hearing
• the applicant and submitters are asked to provide 15 copies of their written evidence to be presented at the hearing, so that this can be made available to the hearing committee and parties attending the hearing
• if any person intends to give written or spoken evidence in Maori, the ARC hearings coordinator must be informed of this at least 5 working days before the hearing so that a qualified interpreter can be provided. Alternatively, the person giving evidence may provide their own interpreter
• we may be able to assist in providing special equipment needed for presentations (e.g. a data show projector). Anyone wishing to use such equipment should contact the hearings coordinator at least 5 working days before the hearing to make these arrangements.

At the hearing:

• the hearing committee chairperson opens the hearing, introduces the parties involved, identifies the application(s) being considered and decides on any administrative details such as the hearing timetable and specific requests
• the applicant, or their representatives, then present their application and call any experts they may have to provide evidence in support of their application
• submitters who indicated they wish to be heard at the hearing are then given the opportunity to present their submission. They will have the opportunity to call any experts or representatives to provide evidence in relation to their submission
• the applicant then has the right to respond to any issues raised by the submitters (referred to as the applicants right of reply)
• after the applicant has completed their reply, the chairperson will then close the public part of the hearing. The hearing committee will then retire to consider their decision.

After the hearing:

• following the conclusion of the public part of the hearing, the hearing committee will consider all of the information supplied by the applicant, submitters and council staff, including all written submissions, even if they were not presented at the hearing. This will usually take place on the same day as the formal hearing
• the commissioners will then decide whether or not to grant the consent, and will consider any conditions that may be applied to the resource consent
• unless the timeframe is extended, all parties will be notified of the committee's decision, in writing, within 15 working days. The letter will state the reasons for the committee's decision
• the applicant and all submitters, even those that chose not to attend the hearing or speak in support of their submission, will receive notice of the decision.

If the applicant or a submitter disagrees with the decision, then they may appeal the decision to the Environment Court within 15 working days of receiving notice of the decision.