Various Surveying and Planning Definitions

Climate Change means a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.           

Coastal water means seawater within the outer limits of the territorial sea (within 12 nautical miles) and includes—

(a) Seawater with a substantial fresh water component; and

(b) Seawater in estuaries, fiords, inlets, harbours, or embayments:

Conditions is the term used to describe the terms by which a resource consent states you must comply with in order to do the activity you want (for example subdivide or build a house). Conditions are usually placed on all types of resource consents, subdivision consents, water permits and discharge permit.

Consent authority means the Minister of Conservation, a Regional Council, a district or city council, or a unity council, whose permission is required to carry out an activity for which a resource consent is required under this Act.

A Covenant is an agreement that restricts the use of a property or a part of a property in a specific way. Some examples of covenants are restricting the materials used to build a house, limit the size of a house and not to run some types of businesses from a property.

A covenant is usually between neighbours or a group of people and is registered on the certificate of title.

Designation means a provision made in a District plan to meet a need of a Requiring authority (for example Council, Transit New Zealand, Education Department, Department of Conservation, Electricity Company or Telecom). A designation is commonly located at a school, transformer, reserve or road corridor.

A development contribution or headwork's fee is a financial contribution that is made to the District Council to help pay for your share of the upgrading required by your development of the roads, foul sewerage, stormwater and water supply systems. In respect to reserves, a development contribution can be in land, cash or a combination of both.

Discharge includes emit, deposit, and allow to escape.

District plan means an operative plan approved by a territorial authority (District or City Council). The District Plan is the source of planning controls within the District.

District rule means a rule made as part of a district plan or proposed district plan and requires everyone within the District to comply with it when making an application.

Easement

An easement is the legal right for the owners of one property to carry out some form of activity over another property . The easement area is shown on the survey plan and an easement document is prepared by your solicitor and recorded on the new certificate of title. Some examples are:

• a water easement allows water to be conveyed to property 'C' over property 'D'

• a right of way easement allows the owners of property 'A' to move over property 'B' in order to gain access to their property

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 above.

An Existing Use Certificate is a certificate from the Council that -

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

greenhouse gas includes the following gases:

Heritage order means a provision made in a district plan to give effect to a requirement made by a heritage protection authority.

historic heritage—

Industrial or trade premises means—

(a) Any property used for any industrial or trade purposes; or

(b) Any property 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 property from which a contaminant is discharged in connection with any industrial or trade process— 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.

infrastructure, means -

(a) pipelines that distribute or transmit natural or manufactured gas, petroleum, or geothermal energy:

(b) a network for the purpose of telecommunication:

(c) a network for the purpose of radio communication:

(d) facilities for the generation of electricity, lines used or intended to be used to convey electricity, and support structures for lines used or intended to be used to convey electricity, excluding facilities, lines, and support structures if a person—

(i) uses them in connection with the generation of electricity for the person's use; and

(ii) does not use them to generate any electricity for supply to any other person:

(e) a water supply distribution system, including a system for irrigation:

(f) a drainage or sewerage system:

(g) structures for transport on land by cycleways, rail, roads, walkways, or any other means:

(h) facilities for the loading or unloading of cargo or passengers transported on land by any means:

(i) an airport:

(j) a navigation installation:

(k) facilities for the loading or unloading of cargo or passengers carried by sea, including a port related commercial undertaking.

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:

Iwi authority means the authority which represents an Iwi and which is recognised by that Iwi as having authority to do so.

joint management agreement means an agreement that—

(a) is made by a local authority with 1 or more—

(i) public authorities, as defined in paragraph (b) of the definition of public authority:

(ii) iwi authorities or groups that represent hapu; and

(b) provides for the parties to the joint management agreement jointly to perform or exercise any of the local authority's functions, powers, or duties under this Act relating to a natural or physical resource; and

(c) specifies the functions, powers, or duties; and

(d) specifies the natural or physical resource; and

(e) specifies whether the natural or physical resource is in the whole of the region or district or part of the region or district; and

(f) may require the parties to the joint management agreement to perform or exercise a specified function, power, or duty together; and

(g) if paragraph (f) applies, specifies how the parties to the joint management agreement are to make decisions; and

(h) may specify any other terms or conditions relevant to the performance or exercise of the functions, powers, or duties, including but not limited to terms or conditions for liability and funding.

Kaitiakitanga means the exercise of guardianship by the tangata whenua of an area in accordance with tikanga Maori in relation to natural and physical resources; and includes the ethic of stewardship.

Lake means a body of fresh water which is either entirely or almost completely surrounded by land. For example Lake Taupo and Lake Elsmere.

Land includes land covered by water and the air space above land.

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is the organisation that administers the land and title records in New Zealand. All surveyors must get survey approval from LINZ. All lawyers must lodge a change of ownership or new titles at LINZ.

Limited-notified application is a type of resource consent application. In the case of limited notified consent, the Council requests comments from neighbours and other people and organisations it considers to be an affected party. The affected parties are given 20 working days in which to respond to the notification from the Council. An affected party can make a written comment in support or objection or as a comment on the proposal.

A Link is a distance measurement used in New Zealand prior to the survey system going metric. One link is the equivalent of 0.201168 metres. For example 100 links equals 20.12 metres.

Local authority means a Regional Council or territorial authority. Central government and government departments are not classified as a local 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.

management plan means a plan prepared by the guardians of a foreshore and seabed reserve.

In New Zealand a 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 (uranium, thorium, plutonium, neptunium, or any of their respective compounds).

Mining means to take, win, or extract, by whatever means, a Mineral existing in its natural state in land, or a chemical substance from that mineral, for the purpose of obtaining the mineral or chemical substance; but does not include prospecting or exploration.

National policy statement means a statement (or set of guidelines) made by the Minister for the Environment that all District and Regional Council are required to adhere to.

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, 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.

New Zealand coastal policy statement means a statement (or set of guidelines) made by the Minister for the Environment, in respect to the coastal marine area, that all District and Regional Councils are required to adhere to.

notice of decision means a copy of a decision on: