Resource consent issues
It worries me that the New Plymouth District Council can seemingly apply their own set of rules when it suits them regarding resource consents irrespective of existing by-laws. It further bothers me that they can do this with apparent impunity with little regard of the impact on nearby residents. The recent case reported in the Daily News regarding the shifting of the Saint Mary’s vicarage should be a real concern to all residents who may be affected by developers, builders and even homeowners who are looking to develop a property.
Based on the article, it appears we simply cannot rely on the NPDC planners communicating with affected parties in a timely manner, or at all, or worse, proceeding to allow development to go ahead circumventing the resource consent process.
My concern is that I also have a property where nearby residents are considering a development which requires, in part, a resource consent to be signed off by me. Will I ever get the chance to make submissions if they proceed? Will I even be notified? What if the New Plymouth District Council somehow decides that they can approve changes to the existing resource consent rules ? Would I get the chance to even discuss the matter?
I feel very sorry for Mr Wayne O’Keefe who has every right to feel annoyed with the underhanded, non-transparent way he has been dealt with by the NPDC in this case. I wonder how many others are in a similar situation?
David Fairey, New Plymouth benefit from a prior playbook. Most nations continue to update their reports to the WHO. Sadly, some inept ‘world leaders’ will choose not to. Today’s world updates are scary with increases everywhere. The PM repeated often that while our country did well to achieve 24 days of no new cases or deaths along with most cases recovered, we would surely see more cases. We have. If anyone had the time and a phenomenal head for careful detail, Ashley Bloomfield and his Ministry of Health colleague delivered a vast amount of information.
MPs Muller, Woodhouse et al, devoid of ‘the buck stops here’ realities, affix grim facial expressions, and now intone ‘‘utter shambles’’, and ‘‘gross incompetence’’ at every opportunity. What about their party’s loud level 2 assertion that we should jump more quickly into level 1? Just as well they were not in government.
Let’s hope that New Zealanders will vote thoughtfully on Election Day 2020.
Shirley Knuckey, New Plymouth