19.2 Policies

Policy 19-1: Situations when financial contributions may be required and the purpose of financial contributions

A financial contribution may be imposed as a condition^ of consent for the following types of activities and for the following purposes:

Infrastructure^ – A financial contribution may be imposed as a condition^ of consent for the establishment, maintenance*, alteration, upgrading*, or expansion of infrastructure^ and other physical resources of regional or national importance. The purpose must be to offset significant adverse effects^ on the environment^ by funding positive effects^ of an equivalent or similar character, nature and scale as the adverse effects^.
Aquatic ecosystems and rivers^ – A financial contribution may be imposed as a condition^ of consent for any type of activity that has significant adverse effects^ on aquatic ecosystems, fish passage, river^ bank erosion, flow regimes or riparian vegetation, in circumstances where such adverse effects^ will not be adequately avoided, remedied or mitigated. The purpose of the financial contribution must be to offset the adverse effects^ by providing for the restoration or enhancement of aquatic ecosystems, fish passage, river^ bank stability, flow regime or riparian vegetation in the general area affected by the activity or, where this is not practicable or desirable, in another location.
Indigenous Biological Diversity^ – A financial contribution may be imposed as a condition^ of consent for any type of activity that has significant adverse effects^ on indigenous biological diversity^ in circumstances where such adverse effects^ will not be adequately avoided, remedied or mitigated. The purpose of the financial contribution must be to offset the adverse effects^ by providing for the protection, restoration or enhancement of indigenous biological diversity^ in a location with similar indigenous biological diversity^ values.
Public access to and along the coastal marine area^ (CMA), lakes^ and rivers^ – A financial contribution may be imposed as a condition^ of consent for any type of activity that will restrict or prevent existing legal or lawful public access to or along the CMA, a lake^ or a river^, except in circumstances where such restrictions are necessary for public safety or are in accordance with the Environmental Code of Practice for River Works (Horizons Regional Council, June 2010). The purpose of the financial contribution must be to provide for alternative public access in the vicinity of the activity or at another similar location.

Policy 19-2: Amount of contribution

The amount of contribution must be an amount determined on a case-by-case basis by the Regional Council to be fair and reasonable. The amount must not exceed the reasonable cost of funding positive environmental effects^ required to offset the net adverse effects^ caused directly by the activity. For the purposes of this policy and Policy 19-3, the “net adverse effects^” means a reasonable assessment of the level of adverse effects^ after taking into account:

the extent to which significant adverse effects^ will be avoided, remedied or mitigated by other consent conditions^,
the extent to which there will be positive environmental effects^ of the activity which may offset any or all adverse effects^, and
the extent to which other environmental compensation is offered as part of the activity which may offset any or all adverse effects^.

Policy 19-3: Matters to be considered for financial contributions

The Regional Council must take into account the following matters when making decisions about the imposition and use of financial contributions.

The Council must place primary emphasis on requiring the adverse effects^ of an activity to be adequately avoided, remedied or mitigated by way of other types of consent conditions^. Financial contributions, designed to offset or compensate for adverse effects^, must for most applications only be considered as a secondary measure.
Financial contributions must not be used where the effects^ of activities are generally consistent with the purpose of the RMA and the resource management objectives and policies in this Plan.
Financial contributions must be used where granting a consent subject to a financial contribution would be more effective in achieving the purpose of the RMA (including recognition of the social, economic and cultural benefits of the activity) and the resource management objectives and policies of this Plan, as opposed to declining consent or granting a consent without requiring a financial contribution.
Financial contributions must not be used where a more suitable revenue collection power is available to the Regional Council.
The Council must take into account any financial contribution levied by a Territorial Authority^ for the activity requiring consent and the purposes to which that Territorial Authority^ contribution will be put, in order to avoid the Regional Council and the Territorial Authority^ collecting financial contributions for duplicate purposes.
The Council must take into account cumulative effects^ in the financial contribution assessments under Policies 19-1 and 19-2.
The Council must generally ensure that a financial contribution is used to fund measures as close as possible to the site* where the adverse effects^ occur, or at one or more sites* similar to that where the adverse effects^ occur, having regard to the location of any affected community.
The Council does not intend that all net adverse effects^ as defined in Policy 19-2 above must be fully offset in every case by way of a financial contribution.

Chapter 19: Financial Contributions