The council’s consent fees support fund now included the ability to apply under the flood management bylaw, the council said in a statement yesterday.
Council regional leadership committee co-chairperson Cr Elliot Weir said the decision to include flood protection in the fees support fund was because of the many community groups and not-for-profit organisations around the region doing work the council appreciated.
"This is one of the ways that council tries to give these groups a leg-up," Cr Weir said.
"We know consents can be one of the hurdles for environmental enhancement, and this fund helps ease that hurdle.
"We have seen this fund help community initiatives for everything from wetland restoration to walkway creation and it’s exciting to see how the impact will grow with a wider scope."
The council statement said under the annual fund, the council could waive the cost for consent fees up to $10,000 per application, and if the applicant was then compliant with consent conditions, their compliance fees could also be waived.
In a report to councillors last week, council consents manager Alexandra King said the council’s existing policy covered the processing fees for consent applications for projects that benefited the environment.
The regional leadership committee had endorsed changes to the policy such that it would now cover bylaw processing fees under the flood management bylaw, Ms King said.
During long-term plan deliberations in 2021, staff were directed to develop a policy for helping with resource consent processing costs for environmental enhancement projects, she said.
An annual budget of $50,000 was included for that purpose.
Funding for the policy had since been included in the first three years of the council’s new long-term plan 2024-34.
She said last year $32,000 was spent from the fund so there was "wiggle room there" to provide for a wider scope.
In yesterday’s council statement, Ms King said staff continued to promote the fund when working with people on projects in general, to see if they were eligible for assistance.
The council said in order to be eligible for funding, applicants must be able to show their project would provide an environmental benefit and was not intended for private commercial gain, among other criteria.
— APL
