When I called at the Timaru District Council and asked for a copy of the building permit for the Aquatic Centre being built on Maori Park in Timaru I was told by the person in charge of building consents that it was not their department so they directed me to a young Asian girl in charge of Town Planning enquiries for the day.
To prove that the Council did have resource consent for the Aquatic Centre she gave me a letter written to the Timaru District Council by a staff member of the the Timaru District Council.
Brief extracts from that letter are as follows
Timaru District Council
c/ Boff Miskell Limited
P.o Box 110
Christchurch 8140
Attention Claire Kelly
Dear Claire
Resouce Consent Application 7253, Moari Park Weka Street, Timaru
Your application for land use consent to construct and operate an aquatics centre was processed on a non-notified basis in accordance with sections 95A – 95F of the Resource Managment Act 1991.
I advise that the Council has granted consent to the application, with conditions………………. etc, etc
Consent Decision
The Timaru District Council grants consent to a non – complying activity being the construction and operation of an aquatic centre with additional facilities such as cafe, creche, gym, meetings rooms, wellness centre and steam and sauna room at TeWeka Street Timaru
Reasons for this Decision
It is consider that any adverse effects on the enviroment resulting from the proposed activity will be less than minor.
Rights to Objection
In accordance with section 357 of the Resource Management Act 1991, the consent holder may object object to this decision or or any condition within 15 working days of the decision being received, by applying in writing to the Timaru District Council at the following address.
Timaru District Council
P O Box 522
Timaru 7940
Yours faithfully
Peter Thompson
Regulatory Services Manager
Ext 03 684 7281
fax 03 687 7209
email - peter.thompson@timdc.govt.nz
Questions about the letter
- Is this the only building permit the council has that it can show its ratepayers
- Who is Claire Kelly and why did she make the application for resource consent
- Why was the resourse consent granted by a staff member of the TDC
- When did the Timaru District Council shift their headquarters to Christchurch
- Why did the council not announce publicly that it required resource consent
- Why were the non compying activities such as a gym, creche and cafe etc not made public
Legal Advice Required
For a ratepayer to be given this letter as evidence that resource consent has been granted to a local authority approved by themselves is beyond my legal understanding. If there is a New Zealand lawyer reading this article that has qualifications in local government law would they please contact me.
Mr Bishop,
My name is Mr Lionel Huts, attorney at law. I have read your article and agree that there is something not quite right about the way in which this Resource Consent has been processed. Section 428 of the Resource Management Act 1991 is particularly relevent.
I am willing to advise you on this matter. I have seen that you are doing essentially charity work so I will work on a no win/no fee basis. However, I will require you to print and deliver a copy of your newsletter to every resident in Timaru so that my time is not wasted on a matter that is not well understood by the public. I would further ask that you include a disclaimer stating that any allegations contained therein are unproven as yet and you do not present them as truth.
Please confirm if you agree to this. I will not correspond through private email as I want this done in public and transparently.
I look forward to your reply.
L Huts
Thanks for responding Lionel. The first thing I have to do is check and and see if you are in fact a Lawyer. As for printing and sending a copy of my newsletter free into every household in Timaru Im afraid that is not possible simply because there is nothing in it for me. There is definilty something wrong with the way the Aquatic Centre has been managed from the beginning but it is not my job to prove it. All I’m doing is passing on things that I have discovered and expressing my personal opinion on the issues. If you are a lawyer and you really want to help then you will have to wait until I collect some more donations.
How dare you suggest that I am not a lawyer when I have offered you my time and expertise for free! You have asked for a lawyer to help you but now say that you don’t want to have anything to do with the issue. That is extremely socially irresponsible. You point the finger without having the courage of your convictions. I’ve never been more affronted in my life. To say there is nothing in it for you just goes to show your lack of social conscience.
You, sir, are an ignoramus.
Sorry Lionel I asked for a New Zealand Lawyer and I cant find you listed with the NZ Law Society and if you were you would not be so rude
Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this topic for ages and yours is the best I have discovered so far.