Council reaches 100% Resource Consent milestone

Last month, a milestone achievement was reached by Nelson City Council’s Resource Consents team – processing 100% of Resource Consents and Land Information Memorandums (LIMS) well within the statutory time frame.

Manager Resource Consents, Mandy Bishop, says 32 non notified consents and 40 LIMS were processed in October, with days to spare under the Resource Management Act guidelines.

The non-notified consents were completed in an average of 13 days (within a 20 day requirement) and the LIMS in four days (within a 10 day requirement.) Mandy Bishop says the faster turnaround is not because of the new legislation.

“We have been working on refining and streamlining our process for some time, and have now achieved what few Councils around New Zealand can claim” Mandy says. “We know most of our customers don’t want to go through the resource consent process so we aim to make their experience as quick and painless as possible. Also, our decisions need to contribute to making Nelson a better place.”

“Staff have worked hard to improve our services and we are still refining to get even smarter while ensuring we do our bit to protect and enhance Nelson’s environment. Meeting the timeframe also keeps costs down, as councils must discount fees if late with their processing.”  

 Chief Executive Keith Marshall is thrilled with the achievement which will boost the level of customer satisfaction. “This time last year we were putting the finishing touches to the Customer Service Centre in Civic House, which has proved to be a success with our residents. We believe Nelson deserves great service from its Council and this Resource Consents team accomplishment is further proof of that commitment. We take service seriously and this result is to be applauded.”