Waitakere City Council has a number of public halls and toilets that rely on onsite water supplies and onsite wastewater disposal, many of which are located in some of Auckland's premier destinations, such as Karekare, Piha and Bethells Beaches. The Council recognises the importance of ensuring that these facilities operate in a manner that does not jeopardize the pristine qualities of these locations and protects public health.

Under the Greenlight programme, Andrew.Stewart Limited has been engaged to ensure that these facilities operate within the site-specific resource consent conditions. This involves the collection and interpretation of water and effluent quality, and recommendations to address any potential issues ensuring the ongoing protection of the environment. The information is managed using consent compliance toolkit CS-VUE.

For more information on how we can reduce your business risk and improve your consent compliance, click here, or contact Gareth Williams, Manager of Water/Wastewater on 09 914 2882.

For related articles see our case studies.

Every two years, the Ministry for the Environment carries out the RMA survey of local authorities in New Zealand. The survey includes questions about key aspects of RMA implementation, including the numbers and types of applications received, the time taken to process these, and monitoring, compliance, complaints and enforcement. The survey's purpose is to help the MfE monitor how the RMA is practiced, in addition to highlighting trends and areas of improvement.

The 2007/2008 survey, which was published this month, shows that of a total of 51,960 resource consent applications which were processed through to a decision, 69% were processed on time.

To find out who the winners and the losers are, and how your council performed, click here.

Poor initial planning advice has resulted in Mr and Mrs X (name withheld) suffering frustration, lost time and financial costs following an abatement notice from the Auckland Regional Council.

The couple had gained consent from Manukau City Council for the construction of the architecturally designed home on a coastal section but had failed to gain consent for the works within the coastal marine area. These works were necessary to provide construction access to the site.

A complaint made to the ARC resulted in the couple having to stop work immediately, until the necessary resource consents had been gained.

Following a positive referral, Andrew.Stewart was engaged to resolve the matter, and within a week a site assessment was undertaken, the correct practices were established and agreed with the ARC, and the consent applications lodged. Works are expected to commence on site again in the very near future.

If the project had been correctly scoped prior to works commencing, Mr and Mrs X would have avoided this situation. Fortunately the ARC chose not to prosecute for the illegal works.

To learn more about our planning services, click here.

During a recent visit to Christchurch, Aaron, Alice and Anna Dohelguy from Andrew.Stewart's Christchurch office visited the Living Earth Composting Facility. The Facility was opened in Feb 2009 and is part of the city council's 'Love Christchurch; Love Your Rubbish' campaign, Australasia's largest kerbside collection for domestic waste service. Click here for more information on this initiative.

Aaron, who has been involved in a number of environmental court cases relating to waste processing and odour, was extremely impressed at the cleanliness of the site and not surprised by the lack of odour. He says the site would be an excellent example to anyone who has concerns about a similar facility being proposed elsewhere in New Zealand.

Aaron, an avid composter, oversees Andrew.Stewart's compost facility, and takes home around 400 kg of food waste to compost per year, and like to thank Rob Fenwick, and Barry Knight from Living Earth for the opportunity to visit the plant.

Andrew.Stewart welcomes Sandspit Yacht Club Marina Ltd, Kerikeri Falls Investment Ltd and Duck Nominees Ltd as new clients this month.

Thanks to everyone who came to the planting day at Bastion Point on Saturday 23 May. We put 2000 plants in the ground, and Ngati Whatua were great hosts (as usual!).

To find out who our Volunteer of the Day was, click here.

We look forward to seeing you at the next planting day/Matariki celebration on Saturday 20 June. Click here for details.

CarbonGroup is assisting architecture and engineering client Stephenson & Turner to measure and then reduce their carbon footprint of their Auckland office, which is designed and built to Australian 'Green Building' standards. S&T says, "The carbon footprint exercise is another step in meeting these [standards] - by gauging the level of CO2 emitted through the building's operation, we can find ways to manage the costs of our energy-related activities while mitigating the effects of climate change."

CS-VUE is working towards the release of CS-VUE version 3.0 which features a new design and improved functionality. The new version is expected to be ready by the first week of July.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter, we hope you have found it both interesting and informative.

If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see in future, or if you would like to contribute, please feel free to contact Liz McKnight.