PART I
INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION
2. Interpretation---(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires,---
``Abatement notice'' means a notice served under section 322:
``Allotment'' has the meaning set out in section 218:
``Amenity values'' means those natural or physical qualities and
characteristics of an area that contribute to people's
appreciation of its pleasantness, aesthetic coherence, and
cultural and recreational attributes:
``Bed'' means---
(a) In relation to any river, the space of land which the
waters of the river cover at its fullest flow without
overtopping the banks; and
(b) In relation to a lake, the space of land which the waters
of the lake cover at its highest level without exceeding its
physical margin; and
(c) In relation to the sea, the submarine areas covered by the
internal waters and the territorial sea:
``Best practicable option'', in relation to a discharge of a
contaminant or an emission of noise, means the best method for
preventing or minimising the adverse effects on the environment
having regard, among other things, to---
(a) The nature of the discharge or emission and the
sensitivity of the receiving environment to adverse effects; and
(b) The financial implications, and the effects on the
environment, of that option when compared with other options;
and
(c) The current state of technical knowledge and the
likelihood that the option can be successfully applied:
``Board of inquiry'' means a board of inquiry appointed under
section 146 to consider an application for a resource consent or
a board of inquiry appointed under section 46:
``Certificate of compliance'' means a certificate granted by a
territorial authority under section 139:
``Change'' includes amend, add to, delete from, and replace, but
does not include any amendment or variation under clause 16 of
the First Schedule:
``Coastal marine area'' means that area of the foreshore and
seabed---
(a) Of which the seaward boundary is the outer limits of the
territorial sea:
(b) Of which the landward boundary is the line of mean high
water springs, except that where that line crosses a river, the
landward boundary at that point shall be whichever is the lesser
of---
(i) One kilometre upstream from the mouth of the river;
or
(ii) The point upstream that is calculated by multiplying
the width of the river mouth by 5:
``Coastal permit'' has the meaning set out in section 87 (c):
``Coastal water'' means seawater within the outer limits of the
territorial sea and includes---
(a) Seawater with a substantial fresh water component; and
(b) Seawater in estuaries, fiords, inlets, harbours, or
embayments:
``Company lease'' means a lease or licence or other right of
occupation of any building or part of any building on, or to be
erected on, any land---
(a) That is granted by a company owning an estate or interest
in the land; and
(b) That is held by a person by virtue of being a shareholder
in the company,---
and includes a licence within the meaning of Part I of the
Companies Amendment Act 1964:
``Completion certificate'' means a certificate issued under section
222:
``Conditions'', in relation to plans and resource consents, includes
terms, standards, restrictions, and prohibitions:
``Consent authority'' means the Minister of Conservation, a regional
council, or a territorial authority, whose permission is
required to carry out an activity for which a resource consent
is required under this Act:
``Consent notice'' means a notice issued under section 221:
``Constable'' means any member of the Police:
``Contaminant'' includes any substance (including gases, liquids,
solids, and micro-organisms) or energy (excluding noise) or
heat, that either by itself or in combination with the same,
similar, or other substances, energy, or heat---
(a) When discharged into water, changes or is likely to change
the physical, chemical, or biological condition of water; or
(b) When discharged onto or into land or into air, changes or
is likely to change the physical, chemical, or biological
condition of the land or air onto or into which it is
discharged:
``Contravene'' includes fail to comply with:
``Controlled activity'' means an activity---
(a) Which a plan specifies as a controlled activity; and
(b) Which is allowed only if a resource consent is obtained in
respect of that activity:
``Costs and benefits'' includes costs and benefits of any kind
whether monetary or non-monetary:
``Cross lease'' means a lease of any building or part of any
building on, or to be erected on, any land---
(a) That is granted by any owner of the land; and
(b) That is held by a person who has an estate or interest in
an undivided share in the land:
``Declaration'' means a declaration about any of the matters set out
in section 310 made by the Planning Tribunal under section 313:
``Designation'' has the meaning set out in section 166:
``Discharge'' includes emit, deposit, and allow to escape:
``Discharge permit'' has the meaning set out in section 87 (e):
``Discretionary activity'' means an activity which a plan specifies
as being allowed only if a resource consent is obtained in
respect of the activity from a consent authority, which must
exercise its discretion to grant the consent in accordance with
criteria specified in the plan and this Act:
``District'', in relation to a territorial authority,---
(a) Means the district of the territorial authority as defined
in accordance with the Local Government Act 1974 but, except as
provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this definition, does not
include any area in the coastal marine area:
(b) Includes any area reclaimed in the coastal marine area for
which a consent authority has issued a certificate under section
245 (5) (a) (ii) or (5) (b) (ii), but which has not yet been
included within the boundary of the territorial authority:
(c) Includes for the purposes of section 89, any area in the
coastal marine area:
``District plan'' means an operative plan approved by a territorial
authority under the First Schedule; and includes all operative
changes to such a plan (whether arising from a review or
otherwise):
``District rule'' means a rule made as part of a district plan in
accordance with section 76:
``Dwellinghouse'' means any building, whether permanent or
temporary, that is occupied, in whole or in part, as a
residence; and includes any structure or outdoor living area
that is accessory to, and used wholly or principally for the
purposes of, the residence; but does not include the land upon
which the residence is sited:
``Enforcement officer'' means any person authorised under section
38:
``Enforcement order'' means an order made under section 319 for any
of the purposes set out in section 314; and includes an interim
enforcement order made under section 320:
``Environment'' includes---
(a) Ecosystems and their constituent parts, including people
and communities; and
(b) All natural and physical resources; and
(c) Amenity values; and
(d) The social, economic, aesthetic, and cultural conditions
which affect the matters stated in paragraphs (a) to (c) of this
definition or which are affected by those matters:
``Esplanade reserve'' has the meaning set out in section 229:
``Excessive noise'' has the meaning set out in section 326:
``Foreshore'' means any land covered and uncovered by the flow and
ebb of the tide at mean spring tides and, in relation to any
such land that forms part of the bed of a river, does not
include any area that is not part of the coastal marine area:
``Fresh water'' means all water except coastal water and geothermal
water:
``Geothermal energy'' means energy derived or derivable from and
produced within the earth by natural heat phenomena; and
includes all geothermal water:
``Geothermal water'' means water heated within the earth by natural
phenomena to a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius or more; and
includes all steam, water, and water vapour, and every mixture
of all or any of them that has been heated by natural phenomena:
``Government road'' has the same meaning as in section 2 (1) of the
Local Government Act 1974:
``Heritage order'' has the meaning set out in section 187:
``Heritage protection authority'' has the meaning set out in section
187:
``Industrial or trade premises'' means---
(a) Any premises used for any industrial or trade purposes; or
(b) Any premises used for the storage, transfer, treatment, or
disposal of waste materials or for other waste-management
purposes, or used for composting organic materials; or
(c) Any other premises from which a contaminant is discharged
in connection with any industrial or trade process---
and includes any factory farm; but does not include any
production land:
``Industrial or trade process'' includes every part of a process
from the receipt of raw material to the dispatch or use in
another process or disposal of any product or waste material,
and any intervening storage of the raw material, partly
processed matter, or product:
``Interim enforcement order'' means an order made under section 320:
``Internal waters'' has the same meaning as in section 4 of the
Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone Act 1977:
``Intrinsic values'', in relation to ecosystems, means those aspects
of ecosystems and their constituent parts which have value in
their own right, including---
(a) Their biological and genetic diversity; and
(b) The essential characteristics that determine an
ecosystem's integrity, form, functioning, and resilience:
``Kaitiakitanga'' means the exercise of guardianship; and, in
relation to a resource, includes the ethic of stewardship based
on the nature of the resource itself:
``Iwi authority'' means the authority which represents an iwi and
which is recognised by that iwi as having authority to do so:
``Lake'' means a body of fresh water which is entirely or nearly
surrounded by land, and for the purposes of Part X only means a
lake whose bed has an area of 8 hectares or more:
``Land'' includes land covered by water and the air space above
land:
``Land use consent'' has the meaning set out in section 87 (a):
``Local authority'' means a regional council or territorial
authority:
``Maataitai'' means food resources from the sea and ``mahinga
maataitai'' means the areas from which these resources are
gathered:
``Mana whenua'' means customary authority exercised by an iwi or
hapu in an identified area:
``Mineral'' means a naturally occurring inorganic substance beneath
or at the surface of the earth, whether or not under water; and
includes all metallic minerals, non-metallic minerals, fuel
minerals, precious stones, industrial rocks and building stones,
and a prescribed substance within the meaning of the Atomic
Energy Act 1945:
``Minister'' means the Minister for the Environment:
``Mouth'', for the purpose of defining the landward boundary of the
coastal marine area, means the mouth of the river either---
(a) As agreed and set between the Minister of Conservation,
the regional council, and the appropriate territorial authority
in the period between consultation on, and notification of, the
proposed regional coastal plan; or
(b) As declared by the Planning Tribunal under section 310
upon application made by the Minister of Conservation, the
regional council, or the territorial authority prior to the plan
becoming operative,---
and once so agreed and set or declared shall not be changed in
accordance with the First Schedule or otherwise varied, altered,
questioned, or reviewed in any way until the next review of the
regional coastal plan, unless the Minister of Conservation, the
regional council, and the appropriate territorial authority
agree:
``National policy statement'' means a statement issued under section
52:
``Natural and physical resources'' includes land, water, air, soil,
minerals, and energy, all forms of plants and animals (whether
native to New Zealand or introduced), and all structures:
``Natural hazard'' means any atmospheric or earth or water related
occurrence (including earthquake, tsunami, erosion, volcanic and
geothermal activity, landslip, subsidence, sedimentation, wind,
drought, fire, or flooding) the action of which adversely
affects or may adversely affect human life, property, or other
aspects of the environment:
``Network utility operator'' has the meaning set out in section 166:
``New Zealand coastal policy statement'' means a statement issued
under section 57:
``Noise'' includes vibration:
``Non-complying activity'' means an activity which contravenes a
plan but is not a prohibited activity:
``Occupier'' means---
(a) The inhabitant occupier of any property; and
(b) In relation to any rateable property within the meaning of
the Rating Powers Act 1988, includes any occupier of the
property within the meaning of that Act; and
(c) For the purposes of section 16, in relation to any land
(including any premises and any coastal marine area), includes
any agent, employee, or other person acting or apparently acting
in the general management or control of the land, or any plant
or machinery on that land:
``Open coastal water'' means coastal water that is remote from
estuaries, fiords, inlets, harbours, and embayments:
``Operative'', in relation to a policy statement or plan, or a
provision of a policy statement or plan, means that the policy
statement, plan, or provision has become operative in terms of
clause 20 of the First Schedule and has not ceased to be
operative:
``Owner'', in relation to any land, means the person who is for the
time being entitled to the rack rent of the land or who would be
so entitled if the land were let to a tenant at a rack rent; and
includes the---
(a) Owner of the fee simple of the land; and
(b) Any person who has agreed in writing, whether
conditionally or unconditionally, to purchase the land or any
leasehold estate or interest in the land, or to take a lease of
the land, while the agreement remains in force:
``Permitted activity'' means an activity that is allowed by a plan
without a resource consent if it complies in all respects with
any conditions (including any conditions in relation to any
matter described in section 108 or section 220) specified in the
plan:
``Person'' includes the Crown, a corporation sole, and also a body
of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate:
``Plan'' means a regional plan or a district plan:
``Planning Tribunal'' and ``Tribunal'' means the Planning Tribunal
referred to in section 247:
``Policy statement'' means a regional policy statement:
``Prescribed'' means prescribed by regulations made under this Act:
``Prescribed form'' means a form prescribed by regulations made
under this Act and containing and having attached such
information and documents as those regulations may require:
``Private road'' has the same meaning as in section 315 of the Local
Government Act 1974:
``Private way'' has the same meaning as in section 315 of the Local
Government Act 1974:
``Production land''---
(a) Means any land and auxiliary buildings used for the
production (but not processing) of primary products (including
agricultural, pastoral, horticultural, and forestry products):
(b) Does not include land or auxiliary buildings used or
associated with prospecting, exploration, or mining for minerals
or used for factory farming,---
and ``production'' has a corresponding meaning:
``Prohibited activity'' means an activity which a plan expressly
prohibits and describes as an activity for which no resource
consent shall be granted:
``Proposed plan'' means a proposed plan or change to a plan that has
been notified under clause 5 of the First Schedule but has not
become operative in terms of clause 20 of the First Schedule;
but does not include a proposed plan or change originally
requested by a person other than a local authority or a Minister
of the Crown:
``Public notice'' means---
(a) When given by a Minister of the Crown in relation to any
matter other than a restricted coastal activity, a notice
published in one or more daily newspapers circulating in the
main metropolitan areas:
(b) When given by a local authority, consent authority, or
requiring authority (including the Minister of Conservation in
the case of a restricted coastal activity decision), a notice
published in---
(i) One or more daily newspapers circulating in the region or
district of the local authority or to which the consent
or requirement relates; or
(ii) One or more other newspapers that have at least an
equivalent circulation in that region or district to
the daily newspapers circulating in that region or
district,---
together with such other public notice (if any) as the Minister,
local authority, consent authority, or requiring authority
thinks desirable in the circumstances; and ``publicly notify''
and ``public notification'' have corresponding meanings:
``Public work'' has the same meaning as in the Public Works Act
1981, and includes any existing or proposed public reserve
within the meaning of the Reserves Act 1977 and any national
park purposes under the National Parks Act 1980:
``Region'' means, in relation to a regional council, the region of
the regional council as determined in accordance with the Local
Government Act 1974:
``Regional coastal plan'' means an operative plan approved by the
Minister of Conservation under the First Schedule and includes
all operative changes to such a plan (whether arising from a
review or otherwise):
``Regional council'' has the same meaning as in the Local Government
Act 1974, and includes the Chatham Islands County Council:
``Regional plan'' means an operative plan (including a regional
coastal plan) approved by a regional council or the Minister of
Conservation under the First Schedule; and includes all
operative changes to such a plan (whether arising from a review
or otherwise):
``Regional policy statement'' means an operative regional policy
statement approved by a regional council under the First
Schedule; and includes all operative changes to such a policy
statement (whether arising from a review or otherwise):
``Regional road'' has the same meaning as in section 2 (1) of the
Local Government Act 1974:
``Regional rule'' means a rule made as part of a regional plan in
accordance with section 68:
``Regulations'' means regulations made under this Act:
``Requiring authority'' has the meaning set out in section 166:
``Resource consent'' has the meaning set out in section 87; and
includes all conditions to which the consent is subject:
``Restricted coastal activity'' means any discretionary activity or
non-complying activity---
(a) Which, in accordance with section 68, is stated by a
regional coastal plan to be a restricted coastal activity; and
(b) For which the Minister of Conservation is the consent
authority:
``River'' means a continually or intermittently flowing body of
fresh water, and includes a stream; but does not include any
artificial watercourse; and for the purposes of Part X only
means a river or stream whose bed has an average width of 3
metres or more:
``Road'' has the same meaning as in section 315 of the Local
Government Act 1974:
``Rule'' means a district rule or a regional rule:
``Serve'' means serve in accordance with section 352 or section 353:
``Special tribunal'' means a special tribunal appointed under
section 202 to hear an application for a water conservation
order:
``State highway'' has the same meaning as in section 2 (1) of the
Transit New Zealand Act 1989:
``Structure'' means any building, equipment, device, or other
facility made by people and which is fixed to land:
``Subdivision consent'' has the meaning set out in section 87 (b):
``Subdivision of land'' and ``subdivide land'' have the meanings set
out in section 218:
``Submission'' means a written submission and, in relation to the
preparation or change of a policy statement or plan, includes
any submission made under clause 6 of the First Schedule in
support of or in opposition to an original submission:
``Survey plan'' means a plan of subdivision of land, or a building
or part of a building, prepared in a form suitable for deposit
under the Land Transfer Act 1952 or with the Registrar of Deeds;
and any Crown plan prepared for a similar purpose as the case
requires, and includes---
(a) A unit plan; and
(b) A plan to give effect to the grant of a cross lease or
company lease:
``Tangata whenua'', in relation to a particular area, means the iwi,
or hapu, that holds mana whenua over that area:
``Taonga raranga'' means plants which produce material highly prized
for use in weaving:
``Tauranga waka'' means canoe landing sites:
``Territorial authority'' has the same meaning as in section 2 (1)
of the Local Government Act 1974:
``Territorial sea'' means the territorial sea of New Zealand as
defined by section 3 of the Territorial Sea and Exclusive
Economic Zone Act 1977:
``Tikanga Maori'' means Maori customary values and practices:
``Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)'' has the same meaning
as the word ``Treaty'' as defined in section 2 of the Treaty of
Waitangi Act 1975:
``Unit'' has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Unit Titles Act
1972; and includes a future development unit as defined in
section 2 of the Unit Titles Amendment Act 1979:
``Unit plan'' has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Unit
Titles Act 1972; and includes a proposed unit development plan
within the meaning of that Act but does not include a stage unit
plan or a complete unit plan within the meaning of that Act:
``Water''---
(a) Means water in all its physical forms whether flowing or
not and whether over or under the ground:
(b) Includes fresh water, coastal water, and geothermal water:
(c) Does not include water in any form while in any pipe,
tank, or cistern:
``Water body'' means fresh water or geothermal water in a river,
lake, stream, pond, wetland, or aquifer, or any part thereof,
that is not located within the coastal marine area:
``Water conservation order'' has the meaning set out in section 200:
``Water permit'' has the meaning set out in section 87 (d):
``Wetland'' includes permanently or intermittently wet areas,
shallow water, and land water margins that support a natural
ecosystem of plants and animals that are adapted to wet
conditions:
``Working day'' means any day except---
(a) A Saturday, a Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac
Day, Labour Day, the Sovereign's birthday, and Waitangi Day; and
(b) A day in the period commencing with the 20th day of
December in any year and ending with the 15th day of January in
the following year.
(2) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,---
(a) A reference to a Part, section, or Schedule, is a reference to a
Part, section, or Schedule of this Act:
(b) A reference in a section to a subsection is a reference to a
subsection of that section:
(c) A reference in a subsection to a paragraph is a reference to a
paragraph of that subsection:
(d) A reference in a section to a paragraph is a reference to a
paragraph of that section:
(e) A reference in a Schedule to a clause is a reference to a clause
of that Schedule:
(f) A reference in a clause of a Schedule to a subclause is a
reference to a subclause of that clause:
(g) A reference in a subclause in a Schedule to a paragraph is a
reference to a paragraph of that subclause:
(h) A reference in a clause in a Schedule to a paragraph is a
reference to a paragraph of that clause.