First we would like to thank everyone for their kind support and positive feedback with regard to our new website.
Congratulations to Garry Roosenbrand from Absolute Developments Ltd for winning the website launch competition.
As part of the website we will be posting a monthly newsletter which will keep our clientele informed of current issues, relevant information and provide handy tips. Please if you have any subject you would like us to cover in future for our newsletter please feel free to e-mail your ideas so we can include it in a future newsletter.
In this first newsletter we would like to talk about Resource Consent Conditions.
As part of issuing resource consents under the terms of the Resource Management Act and the relevant district plan/s, Councils impose resource consent conditions. These conditions are set out to eliminate / minimise adverse affects on the environment, not only during the construction process but also during the operation of the proposed activity.
With respect to trees, you only have one chance to ‘get it right’ on development sites due to the fact that if trees are damaged during the construction process there is little chance of repair or even reversing inevitable death of the tree or trees. If damage has occurred it is not always immediately obvious, especially if root areas have been disrupted therefore it is crucial to “get it right”.
Usually resource consents that cover trees on development sites specify that a pre works commencement meeting occurs between the consent holder, nominated (consent holder’s) arborist and the site construction manager. Sometimes other persons may be specified to attend this meeting, including Council officers.
Don’t underestimate the importance of the pre works commencement meeting. This is an opportunity for everyone involved to understand what the specific tree issue are and clarify exactly what needs to occur to eliminate potential damage to trees during the construction process.
It is always important that the consent holder and all other parties involved read the relevant conditions of consent prior to any pre works commencement meeting taking place.
The role of the (consent holders) nominated arborist during a pre works commencement meeting is to ensure that everyone understands the resource consent conditions relevant to the trees. It is good practice, and sometimes a requirement, that everyone attending a pre works commencement meeting sign a register stating that they have attended the meeting and that they understand the resource consent conditions.
We should also point out that in a lot of cases now Councils are requiring confirmation from (consent holders) nominated arborists that construction works have complied with resource consent conditions. This usually takes the form of ongoing monitoring reports, monthly for larger projects, and often will require an end of project summary from the monitoring arborist to confirm that all activities have been carried out as required by the resource consent and that the tree/s will have suffered no adverse effects.
More often than not the Conditions section of a resource consent document can be very bulky and a common occurrence is for this section not to be read by the consent holder. This is probably the simplest thing to remedy and is the most common cause of problems we encounter at arbSolutions Ltd. Some key points to look out for when reading through resource consent conditions are summarised below and simply reading the conditions and marking relevant sections with a coloured pen can often save a lot of trouble, expense and wasted time.
Some key points to look out for in resource consents relating to trees:
- The requirement for a pre-start site meeting and those needing to attend;
- A requirement for ongoing monitoring reports and the frequency eg. monthly, weekly, start and end of project;
- Protective fencing around trees - the type of fencing and when it needs to be erected;
- Arborist supervision for works in the vicinity of trees (the arborist cannot confirm to Council that works have been carried out appropriately if they were not there when the works were carried out!);
- Keeping a copy of the consent conditions on site at all times during the project AND ensuring all site personnel are aware of these consent conditions.
This is by no means an exhaustive list but it does illustrate common issues that are often problematical just because the conditions have not been read.
The effort involved to ensure the correct person has a copy of the resource consent conditions and has read and understood them is absolutely minimal compared to the time and money that will be wasted by not doing so.