Sure ... within the speed limits. A booklet (Manawatu River and Tributaries Navigation and Safety Bylaws 2004) is available from our Customer Services staff ph 0508 800 800, which will give full information.

Resource consents are tools used to achieve sustainable use of natural and physical resources. They help ensure that the environment we enjoy today will be looked after for future generations.

The Resource Management Act (1991) gives regional councils, like Horizons Regional Council, the authority to issue resource consents to people who plan to undertake certain activities that affect water, air, and land.

If you are granted a resource consent, you have the right, often subject to conditions, to use or affect the natural resource.

If you supply all the necessary information and pay the application deposit, our staff then decide how the consent will be processed, in one of three ways as stated below. This decision is based on the legal requirements under the Resource Management Act.

1. Non-notified
If the environmental effects of your proposed activity are minor, and you have received written approval from all adversely-affected parties, then your application can be processed 'non-notified'.

The decision to issue a non-notified consent is made by senior staff. If you are unhappy with their decision an objection can be made to Horizons Regional Council.

2. Limited Notification
If the environmental effects of your proposed activity are minor and it has been possible to identify all affected parties, and you have provided nearly all of the written approvals from those affected parties, then your application can be processed by "Limited Notification".

When an application is notified by limited notification, the Regional Council identifies those parties adversely affected by the proposal pursuant to Section 94 B and then notifies them directly. Limited notification is an alternative step to full public notification when an application which has minor effects cannot be processed non-notified. No public notice is placed in the newspaper and there is no sign placed at the site of the proposed activity. The only people who can make a submission on a Limited Notification are those parties directly notified. A submission period of at least 20 working days is allowed for this.

If no submissions are received then a decision will be made within 20 working days.

If submissions are received then the process continues as if the application was notified.

3. Notified
Your application is 'notified' when the environmental effects of the proposed activity are not minor, and/or you do not have written approval from adversely-affected parties.

We place a public notice in the newspaper, and at or near the site of the proposed activity. We also send copies of the application to the relevant district or city council, neighbours, affected parties, iwi authorities, and special interest groups.

Anyone can make a submission on a notified application during a specified period of at least 20 working days.

If we receive submissions we may hold a pre-hearing meeting to try and clarify or resolve any concerns. We also encourage applicants to talk to submitters. Concerns are often resolved this way. However, if no agreement is reached, we may hold a formal hearing to gain an outcome.

The decision of the Hearing Committee can be appealed to the Environment Court. Please ask for our information sheet on making a submission, pre-hearings and hearings.

As an applicant you pay 100% of the processing costs for your resource consent.

You pay an application deposit when you apply for a resource consent. Applications may not be processed until the deposit is paid. A schedule of deposit charges is included in this brochure. Depending on the type of resource consent, the application deposit covers advertising (notified only), administration, and routine investigation.

We assess your application for accuracy and completeness, according to the Resource Management Act and Horizons Regional Council's regional plans. We aim to ensure the resource consent decision is legally and environmentally sound.

Staff involved in this assessment include:
Administrators - who deal with the daily running of the consent process.
Planners - who deal with the legal requirements.
Scientists - who assess possible environmental effects of activities.
Field staff - who understand the Region's specific environmental needs.
Consultants - contracted to work on Council's behalf.

Sometimes we need to investigate the application further. We may need to ask you for more information. In this case, additional reasonable costs may be charged.

As a general rule the deposit does not cover the total costs of processing your application, especially the costs of pre-hearings or hearings. Any additional charges will be itemised when you receive notice of the decision made on your application, unless your application goes to a Hearing. In that situation a separate decision on processing costs is released 15 days after the Hearing decision is released.

The Resource Management Act allows Horizons Regional Council to charge resource consent applicants for actual and reasonable costs in relation to processing the application. We have no legal power to charge submitters. Additional charges over and above the deposit paid are invoiced when a decision is made on your application.

Deposits
Non Notified $500.00
Notified $1,000.00
(excludes GST)

Administration Charge $210.00
(excludes GST)
Staff charges per hour:
Group Manager $125.00
Consents Manager* $95.00
Team Leaders $95.00
Area Engineers $104.00
Senior Policy or Scientist $100.00
Senior Consents Planner* $90.00
Consents Planner/Reporting Officer $85.00
Consents Administrator* $80.00
(excludes GST)

* Note: Consents staff charges include a component to cover time spent on quality control, peer review and advice, and administration for applicants and submitters while an application is in process.

Other charges can include:

advertising
laboratory costs
mileage
independent reporting
pre-hearings
document preparation and circulation
hearing committee time
These charges remain in effect until 30 June 2007.

Research and Monitoring Charges - All holders of water permits, discharge permits and gravel extraction Resource Consents pay an annual charge. For water takes and discharges the charge is invoiced annually, while gravel monitoring charges are invoiced quarterly.

These are charged on a per cubic metre of extraction or discharge basis depending on what is specified in the individual Consent. This revenue contributes to Horizons' scientific research into the effect of consented activities on water quality and quantity, and gravel resources.

Resource Consent Monitoring Charges - If your Consent states monitoring is required, you will incur this charge for each inspection. Costs are invoiced after the inspection and sent with the monitoring report.

These charges are levied when a Horizons Environmental Compliance Officer visits and inspects the activity covered by the Consent. The amount of the inspection fee is based on the type of activity. Twenty percent of the cost of monitoring a Resource Consent that is complying is covered by all ratepayers through the General Rate; however if the activity is not complying, 100% of the cost is charged to the Consent Holder. Because all ratepayers benefit from a healthy environment and a strong economy, it is considered fair everyone contribute to monitoring complying Consents.

Resource Consent Application Processing charges are invoiced when a decision is made on the Consent application.

· Research and Monitoring Charges for water takes and discharges will be sent to you annually.

· Research and Monitoring Charges for gravel takes will be sent to you quarterly.

· Resource Consent Monitoring Charges are sent to you after each inspection.

Check with us that you have provided the correct details on your application before you lodge it. Get it right the first time.

Complete applications thoroughly. If there is something left out, we may have to write to you for more information or spend time researching, which can add to the costs.

Consult with and get approval from affected parties. These may include your neighbours, iwi groups, and special interest groups. If this is not done, then your application could be publicly notified and submissions made against it.

Resource Consent Holders are able to transfer their Consents. This is usually done when properties are changing ownership and the new owner wishes to continue with the activity authorised by the Resource Consent.

The Consent Holder will remain liable for the Consent until such time that Horizons Regional Council has received and processed the request for a transfer.

The transfer of Resource Consent must be done in writing to the Regional Council and/or by completing the Transfer Form for Resource Consent. The transfer form must be completed and signed by both parties.
There is no fee for this transaction.

Transfer forms can be obtained from our office or they can be downloaded from our website.

We offer a Resource Consent advisory service. Call us on freephone 0508 800 800 and ask our Consents Staff for advice and information on obligations under the Resource Management Act. We can explain the resource consent process, charges and any associated costs.

In 1999 Horizons Regional Council gained an international quality assurance standard (ISO9002 accreditation) for our resource consent processing.

The Proposed One Plan is about managing the use of natural resources. Planning for other things, such as transport, emergency management and pest control are dealt with in other Council plans and strategies.

Yes. Once the Plan is fully notified it will replace the existing Regional Policy Statement and six Regional Plans which cover Air, Water, Land, Beds of Rvers and Lakes and the Coast.

A proposed plan is a document that has been issued by the Council and 'proposed' as the official position of the Council before submissions are received. To be legally proposed, a document must be 'publicly notified' under the Resource Management Act 1991 so people can make submissions.

In the planning sense, a policy is defined as a 'course of action' - a description of the things that need to be done to achieve a desired environmental outcome. Policies guide Councils in making their decisions, including decisions on resource consent applications. To enact a policy the Council can use a range of different methods - some are regulatory (rules) and others non-regulatory (e.g. offering incentives, information and advice, and working with community groups).

When we make a plan available we accept submissions about the plan (the process which has just finished); then we make all of those submissions available. All of the decisions requested by every submitter are summarised and collated into a document.

Two documents are available:

    * summary of decisions requested, ordered by submitters
    * summary of decisions requested, ordered by plan provision

You can use these documents to decide if they want to agree or disagree with a point that someone has made.

For example: if Mr Jones says in his submission that he is opposed to rule 99.8 then Mrs Smith can make a further submission stating her agreement with Mr Jones and the reasons why she agrees.

Any person may participate in the further submission process providing it relates to a submission already received. (Note: Any issues for which no submissions were originally received cannot be addressed in the further submission process.)

The summary of decisions requested is available at the following places:

CD-ROM version - a CD-Rom containing all of the decisions requested is available from our offices at no cost. Please call us on 0508 800 800 or email oneplan@horizons.govt.nz

Hard Copies - copies of the summary of decisions requested are available at the following places:

All public libraries in the Region -

Horowhenua District: Foxton, Levin and Shannon

Manawatu District: Feilding

Palmerston North City: Palmerston North City Library

Tararua District: Woodville, Pahiatua, Eketahuna and Dannevirke

Rangitikei District: Marton, Bulls and Taihape

Wanganui District: Wanganui Library

Ruapehu District: Taumarunui, Ohakune and Raetihi.

Horizons Regional Council offices:

    * Regional House, 11-15 Victoria Avenue, Palmerston North
    * Regional House, 181 Guyton Street, Wanganui

or copies are available for purchase at a cost of $35 (inc GST) each.

Just like the submissions to the Proposed One Plan, we will have a form which people fill out to make a further submission on any submission that has been received. This will be available when the summary is notified. (This is expected to be mid-November.)

Designs can be found here www.wormsrus.co.nz

Do you visit towns which do have a recycling depot? If you are able to save up your recycling you could take it in next time you visit. Talk with your neighbours; maybe you can take turns taking recycling in.
Try to buy products, as much as possible, which can be re-used.

Contact the producer of the product to discuss the issue. If you do not get a satisfactory answer contact the packaging council on www.packaging.org.nz.

Many retail outlets, such as The Warehouse and Mitre 10, stock worm farms. You can also visit www.wormsrus.co.nz or www.wastebusters.orcon.net.nz/worm to purchase worm farms directly.

The coding system was initiated as part of an international coding system to identify containers for recycling. However, in New Zealand we don't have all the recycling facilities to recycle all types of plastic. A lot of plastics do get sent overseas to be recycled. In New Zealand we can currently recycle plastic types 1, 2 and sometimes plastic type 4. Check out www.plastics.org.nz to find out more about plastics.

The collected paper is added to big hyrapulpers with water, and mixed at high speed to separate out the fibres. The paper pulp is screened to remove things like paper clips, wire and grit, and the pulp is then heated to remove sticky substances like glue. Depending on what sort of paper is being recycled it may be de-inked. Cleaned pulp is then watered down and small amounts of paper-making additives are added.
The pulp at this stage can be used to make packaging products or cardboard boxes, or made into paper.

Batteries are made from plastic, lead and sulphuric acid, all of which can be harmful to the environment. Currently over 80% of a car battery can be recycled. Exide Technologies have agents all over New Zealand which collect batteries before transporting them to a smelter in Wellington.

The first step at the smelter is to remove the sulphuric acid from the battery; the acid is passed though an acid neutralizing system before the liquid is treated and safely disposed of.

The plastic case from the battery is washed and ground into pellets which are either recycled into new plastic products or exported to Australia for reprocessing.

The grid metal that is coated with lead oxide paste is melted and then refined. These materials can be used to make new batteries.

Check out your local Refuse Transfer Stations, or local petrol station, to see if they have Used Oil collection facilities that you can use. Oil is pretty nasty stuff when it gets into the environment - it makes a big mess in water ways, so never pour it into a storm water drain. It cannot be treated at sewage treatment plants, so don't tip it down the sink or toilet. It also contaminates soil and can get into ground water - so don't tip it onto land either! A small fee may apply at the Refuse Transfer Station or petrol station, but it is worth it.