Appeals

An appeal is a written request (made under section 121 of the Resource Management Act) to the Environment Court to reconsider a Greater Wellington decision on a resource consent application, or a decision on an objection. The Environment Court decides on the matter by re-hearing all the information we used to make our decision. It’s important that you prepare your appeal carefully. We strongly recommend you seek legal or other professional advice before going ahead.

Who can appeal what?

• Applicants can appeal all or part of hearing committee decisions on a resource consent application, such as, any conditions attached to their consent or a decision declining an application.
• Submitters can appeal all or part of a hearings committee decision on a resource consent application. Any appeal must relate to matters covered in a submission on the consent application. Similarly, any remedy sought through the appeal is restricted to the matters covered in the original submission.
• Consent holders can appeal Greater Wellington’s decisions on consent condition reviews.
• Appeals against decisions on applications for restricted coastal activities must be made by lodging a notice of inquiry with the Environment Court.

This is because Greater Wellington doesn’t make the final decisions on these applications – instead, we make a recommendation to the Minister of Conservation. To ask for an inquiry, follow the same procedure as for lodging an appeal.

To read more about appeals download our Objections and appeals brochure.

What if you don’t agree with the decision on notification?

Greater Wellington’s decision to notify or non-notify a consent application cannot be appealed to the Environment Court. However, you can seek a judicial review of our notification decisionthrough the High Court.