Section 126 allows a council to cancel a resource consent if it has been exercised in the past but has not been exercised during the preceding five years. If a council decides to take this action then it must serve written notice on the consent holder.
A council may not cancel a consent if the consent expressly allows for an activity to be suspended for a period greater than five years. The consent holder can apply to have their notice revoked as long as the application is made within three months of receiving the notice of cancellation. The council can then decide to revoke the notice and state a period after which a new notice may be served. In deciding whether to revoke a notice or not the council needs to consider:
- whether the applicant has obtained the approval of persons that might be adversely affected by the revocation of the notice, and
- the effect of the revocation of the notice on the objectives and policies of any plan or proposed plan.
A consent holder can object to any decision made by the council to cancel a consent (ss357A and 357C to 358). A request can also be made that the objection be considered by a hearings commissioner instead of the consent authority (ss357C(2A).
As mentioned in the abstract of this note, this note does not cover cancelling consents when enforcement action has taken place and the Environment Court has ordered a review of the consent (s132(4)).
