Planning Services fees and charges
Here are the fees we charge for Planning Services, including resource consents for land use, subdivisions, boundaries and other activities related to the District Plan.
All fees and charges include GST unless indicated. Effective 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.
Planning Services charges are imposed under the Resource Management Act 1991 to recover the cost to Palmerston North City Council for processing applications, monitoring consents and for Notice of Requirement designations and private District Plan changes.
Section 36 of the Resource Management Act enables the Council to charge additional fees to recover actual and reasonable costs when the fixed fee is inadequate. This means that applications that exceed standard processing times or which involve a hearing may incur additional charges. Consultants and solicitors fees associated with all work types are also included. We may also refund part of the fee if the work required to process the application is minimal.
The deposits specified below are required upfront and no action will be taken in accordance with Section 36AAB(2) until the deposit is paid. That does not mean that the Council is required to complete the activity upon payment of the deposit. The costs incurred will be monitored and additional amounts up to the total of the fixed charge may be required. Then additional charges may also be required before completion of the task if the fixed charges are inadequate to cover the Council's actual and reasonable costs.
Fixed charges
These charges are payable by applicants for resource consents, for the local authority to carry out its functions in relation to receiving, processing and granting resource consents, including certificates of compliance and existing use certificates (RMA Section 36(1)(b)).
| Activity type |
Charge |
Deposit |
| Instant resource consent |
$250 |
$250 |
| Boundary activity |
$320 |
$320 |
| Temporary or marginal breaches |
$320 |
$320 |
| Non notified land use consents (minor, see note D b) |
$2,000 |
$1,500 |
| Non notified land use consents (other than minor) |
$4,400 |
$3,000 |
| Limited notified land use consents |
$64,000 |
$48,000 |
| Notified land use consents (full notification) |
$85,000 |
$64,000 |
| Non notified subdivision consents (controlled activity) |
$3,000 |
$1,900 |
| Non notified subdivision consents (discretionary restricted) |
$3,200 |
$2,400 |
| Non notified subdivision contents (other) |
$6,000 |
$4,500 |
| Notified subdivision consents for up to and including 20 lots in total (full and Limited notification) |
$24,000 |
$18,000 |
| Notified subdivision consents for more than 20 lots (full and limited notification) |
$42,000 |
$31,000 |
| Certificates of compliance |
$500 |
$400 |
| Town planning certificate (alcohol) |
$400 |
$300 |
| Existing use certificates |
$1,000 |
$700 |
| Outline planning approval |
$1,200 |
$900 |
| Waiver for requirement for outline plan |
$400 |
$300 |
| Notified notice of requirements, heritage orders, designation alterations |
$18,000 |
$13,000 |
| Non notified notice of requirements, heritage orders, designation alterations |
$3,000 |
$2,000 |
| District Plan changes |
$28,000 |
$20,000 |
These charges payable by holders of resource consents for Council to carry out its functions in relation to administering, monitoring and supervising resource consents, including certificates of compliance and existing use certificates, and for carrying out its resource management functions under Section 35 (Section 36(1)(c)).
| Activity type |
Charge |
Deposit |
| Monitoring of non notified resource consents |
$369 per consent for inspections and monitoring (2 hours) |
N/A |
| Monitoring of notified resource consents |
$738 per consent for inspections and monitoring (4 hours) |
N/A |
| Variations to conditions (Section 127 and 221 on subdivision and land use) |
$1,900 |
$1,400 |
| Extensions of time (Section 125) |
$1,200 |
$900 |
| Cancellation of building line restrictions (under Local Government Act 1974) |
$1,100 |
$850 |
| Adjustment of easements |
$1,100 |
$850 |
| Subdivision certificates (including Section 223, 224) |
$425 |
$300 |
| Subdivision certificates (Section 226) |
$1,500 |
$1,100 |
| Subdivision inspections for up to and including 5 lots, or staged, in total |
$900 |
$600 |
| Subdivision inspections for between 6 lots and up to and including 10 lots, or staged, in total |
$1,700 |
$1,300 |
| Subdivision inspections for between 11 lots and up to and including 20 lots, or staged, in total |
$3,400 |
$2,500 |
| Subdivision inspections for more than 20 lots unstaged |
$5,000 |
$4,000 |
| Removal of designations |
$280 |
$280 |
| Purchase of District Plan and District Plan updates |
At cost |
At cost |
Charges payable by holders of resource consents, for Council to carry out its functions in relation to reviewing consent conditions if:
- The review is carried out at the request of the consent holder
- The review is carried out under Section 128(1)(a)
- The review is carried out under Section 128(1)(c)
| Activity type |
Charge |
Deposit |
| Review at the request of the consent holder |
$1,800 |
$1,300 |
| Review pursuant to Section 128 (1) (a) |
$1,670 |
$1,250 |
| Review pursuant to Section 128 (1) (c) |
$5,300 |
$4,000 |
| Document charges |
| Charges for the supply of documents payable by the person requesting the document (Section 36 (1) (f)). |
| Replacement copies of certificates |
$115 |
| Replacement copies of resource consents |
At cost of officer's time per hour plus disbursements |
| Other documents |
$1 per page |
| Additional copies of order papers |
$40 |
Other charges
Advisory service
For queries received by staff in our Customer Service Centre, there is no cost for an individual enquiry up to 30 minutes (whether in person or in writing). Where an individual enquiry is for a period longer than 30 minutes, it will be charged at cost based on the relevant officer's hourly rate.
For any queries received by staff not based at our Customer Service Centre, these will be charged at cost based on the relevant officer's hourly rate.
Pre-lodgment meetings
Where our staff vet information before lodging an application, this time will be charged at the relevant officer's hourly rate.
Consultant charges
Consultants and solicitors fees associated with all work types will be charged at cost plus disbursements. This includes the processing of a consent or certificate (including specialist technical or legal advice where a consent involves creating legal instruments) and new notice of requirements, heritage orders, designation alterations, removal of designations and District Plan changes.
Hearings Commissioner
Objections considered by a Hearings Commissioner (section 36(1) (af)) will be at cost plus disbursements of the Hearings Commissioner.
Charges for hearings
Hearings for all applications, designations, notice of requirements private District Plan changes, development contributions and remittance fees and associated work by relevant staff will be charged at the cost of officers' time per hour, as shown below.
Production of order papers will be at cost plus disbursements.
| Charges for Council staff |
| These charges are the rates per hour for Council officers and decision-makers for processing consents, hearings, designations etc that do not have a fixed charge or where the fixed charge is inadequate to cover the actual and reasonable costs of the Council. |
| Planning Officer/Graduate Planning Officer |
$206 |
| Monitoring and Enforcement Officer |
$181 |
| Senior Planner |
$219 |
| Planning Services Manager |
$240 |
| City Planning Manager |
$240 |
| General Manager |
$256 |
| Senior Business Support Officer |
$175 |
| Administration or committee administration staff |
$125 |
| Technical and professional staff from all other Council units |
$235 |
| Commissioner |
At cost plus disbursements
|
| Hearing committee chair and members |
At cost ($100 per hour for chair and $80 per hour for members) plus disbursements |
A. The number of lots in a subdivision includes the balance lot.
B. The fixed charges do not include other charges that may be imposed under the Resource Management Act or other legislation such as:
(i) Additional charges (Section 36(5))
(ii) Bonds
(iii) Monitoring and supervision charges expressly provided for in a resource consent
(iv) Development contributions
C. If the fixed charges are not sufficient to meet the Council's actual and reasonable costs then additional charges may be payable. Note this may include but not be limited to charges for consultants, solicitors, independent commissioners and Council officers' time.
D. Fees methodology:
(a) Land use and subdivision consents have been based on average costs of consents issued. Deposits have generally been set at 75% of the average unless the difference between the deposit and the total of actual and reasonable costs is of such a minor nature it is not cost-effective to recoup the difference from an applicant. In such a case the deposit is set at the same value as the fixed charge. In terms of the fixed charge, they are set at 100% of the average fee. Final charges will be charged at staff hourly rates, technical officer or consultant time and any standard fees that apply.
(b) Minor non notified land use consents usually applies to:
(i) Applications for a dwelling, or a minor dwelling, dependent dwellings, accessory buildings, home occupations and access in the residential and rural zones.
(ii) Applications for signage in the business and industrial zones.
(c) Monitoring and inspection charges are based on staff hourly rates to complete. For non notified resource consents the inspection fee of $362 is for 2 hours of inspections by the Monitoring and Enforcement Officer. For notified consents, the inspection fee of $724 is for 4 hours of inspections by the Monitoring and Enforcement Officer. In terms of dealing with compliance issues, this is based on the actual time spent by the officer based on the hourly rate for the Monitoring and Enforcement Officer.