Surveying and planning definitions New Zealand

occupy means the activity of occupying any part of the coastal marine area—

(a) where the occupation is reasonably necessary for another activity; and

(b) where it is to the exclusion of all or any class of persons who are not expressly allowed to occupy that part of the coastal marine area by a rule in a Regional coastal plan and in any relevant proposed regional coastal plan or by a Resource consent; and

(c) for a period of time and in a way that, but for a rule in the regional coastal plan and in any relevant proposed regional coastal plan or the holding of a Resource consent under this Act, a lease or licence to occupy that part of the coastal marine area would be necessary to give effect to the exclusion of other persons, whether in a physical or legal sense

Owner,—

(a) In relation to any land, means the person who is for the time being entitled to the rack rent of the land or who would be so entitled if the land were let to a tenant at a rack rent; and includes—

(i) The owner of the fee simple of the land; and

(ii) Any person who has agreed in writing, whether conditionally or unconditionally, to purchase the land or any leasehold estate or interest in the land, or to take a lease of the land, while the agreement remains in force.

Private road means any roadway, place, or arcade laid out or formed within a district on private land, by the owner, but is intended for the use of the public generally. Take for example a shopping mall usually has private roads taking people to and around the carpark.

Private way means any way or passage whatsoever over private land within a district, the right to use which is limited to certain persons or classes of persons, and which is not open to the public. A common type is a right of way or an access lot.

prohibited activity is an activity that no resource consent can ever be granted for. An example is the prohibition of nuclear power stations.

Proposed plan means a proposed plan, or variation to a proposed plan, or change to a plan that has been publicly notified but has not become operative (still subject to appeals over parts of the Plan).

Prospecting means any activity undertaken for the purpose of identifying land likely to contain exploitable mineral deposits or occurrences; and includes—

(a) Geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys; and

(b) The taking of samples by hand or hand held methods; and

(c) Aerial surveys,—

public foreshore and seabed—

(a) means the foreshore and seabed; but

(b) does not include any land that is, for the time being, subject to a specified freehold interest

public notice means a notice published in a newspaper circulating in the entire area likely to be affected by the proposal to which the notice relates.

Publicly-notified application is a resource consent that requires all neighbours and other potentially affected persons or organisations to be notified. A sign needs to be placed in a prominent location, and notices need to be placed in the newspaper on two occasions. Every person has 20 working days in which to make comment in support of or in objection to a notified consent. A hearing is likely to happen if any submissions are received.

Regional coastal plan means an operative plan approved by the Minister of Conservation for the management and control of the regional coast line and Territorial sea.

Regional plan means an operative plan (including a regional coastal plan) approved by a regional council or the Minister of Conservation.

Regional policy statement means an operative regional policy statement approved by a regional council. A regional policy statement must be consistent with all National policy statement.

Regional rule means a rule made as part of a regional plan or proposed regional plan.

Requiring authority means—

(a) A Minister of the Crown; or

(b) A local authority; or

(c) A network utility operator approved by the Minister for the Environment, and is someone who:

distributes gas, petrol or geothermal energy by pipeline

is an electricity operator or electricity distributor

distributes water supply (including irrigation)

operates a telecommunications or radio communications network

operates a sewage system, road or railway line

is an airport authority

provides approach control services for airports

undertakes a project or work which is prescribed by a regulation as a network utility operation.

renewable energy means energy produced from solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, tidal, wave, and ocean current sources.

A Resource consent is a Land use consent, Subdivision consent, Coastal permit, Water permit or a Discharge permit.

A restricted coastal activity is an activity that is stated in the regional plan (or coastal plan) as a Discretionary or non-complying activity for which the Minister of Conservation is the person who needs to give consent. An activity can only be specified as a restricted coastal activity in a regional coastal plan. It must be likely to have significant or irreversible adverse effects on the coastal marine area or be likely to occur in an area having significant conservation value.

A Right of Way is a type of easement, which allows the owners of a property access over a portion of another property. A Right of Way can be for vehicles or could be for pedestrians only.

River means a continually or intermittently flowing body of fresh water; and includes a stream and modified watercourse; but does not include any artificial watercourse (including an irrigation canal, water supply race, canal for the supply of water for electricity power generation, and farm drainage canal)

Road means the whole of any land which is within a district, and which—

(a) Is laid out by the council as a road or street; or

(b) Is vested in the council for the purpose of a road as shown on a deposited survey plan; or

(c) Is vested in the council as a road or street pursuant to any other enactment;

and includes—

Any access way or service lane which was under the control of any council or is laid out or constructed by or vested in any council as an access way or service lane or is declared by the Minister of Works and Development as an access way or service lane or is declared by the Minister of Lands as an access way or service lane:

Every square or place intended for use of the public generally, and every bridge, culvert, drain, ford, gate, building, or other thing belonging thereto or lying upon the line or within the limits thereof;—

Rule means a district rule or a regional rule as outlined in the plan.

Section 223 Certificate is when the District or City Council approves a Title Plan and any easement shown on the plan.

Section 224c Certificate is when the District / City Council signs a subdivision as having been completed and all the conditions of consent have been complied with or a consent notice is created for each Lot which has a condition that applies on a continuing basis or a bond has been entered into until such a time a condition of consent can be complied with. Once section 224c approval is gained a surveyor usually applies for Survey Approval from Land Information New Zealand, and a lawyer can apply for the new titles.

soil conservation means avoiding, remedying, or mitigating soil erosion and maintaining the physical, chemical, and biological qualities of soil.

Special tribunal means a special tribunal appointed to hear a water conservation order.

State highway is a road declared a state highway by the New Zealand transport Agency (formally Transit New Zealand).

Structure means any building, equipment, device, or other facility made by people and which is fixed to land; and includes any raft.

Subdivision is the division of the land held within a certificate of title. There are various forms of subdivision, such as a Cross lease, Unit plan and a Fee Simple subdivision. Most forms of subdivision are covered by the Resource Management Act and normally require the consent of the local council.

Subdivision consent is a consent to subdivide a property, either by a Fee Simple title, unit development, cross-lease or lease. More Information.

subdivision of land means—

(a) The division of an allotment—

(i) By an application to a District Land Registrar for the issue of a separate certificate of title for any part of the allotment; or

(ii) By the disposition by way of sale or offer for sale of the fee simple to part of the allotment; or

(iii) by a lease of part of the allotment which, including renewals, is or could be for a term of more than 35 years; or

(iv) By the grant of a company lease or cross lease in respect of any part of the allotment; or

(v) By the deposit of a unit plan, or an application to a District Land Registrar for the issue of a separate certificate of title for any part of a unit on a unit plan; or

(b) An application to a District Land Registrar for the issue of a separate certificate of title in circumstances where the issue of that certificate of title is prohibited by section 226.

Submission means a written submission on a proposed District or Regional Plan, Regional Policy Statement or Resource Consent Application.

A Survey Report is the report written by the Licensed Cadastral Surveyor for Land Information New Zealand outlining the method, assumptions and problems the survey has encountered during the process.

Tangata whenua, in relation to a particular area, means the iwi, or hapu, that holds mana whenua over that area.

Taonga raranga means plants which produce material highly prized for use in weaving.

Tauranga waka means canoe landing sites.

Territorial sea means the territorial sea of New Zealand within 12 nautical miles of land.

The Crown is the New Zealand Government. Sometimes it can also include Local and Regional Councils.

Tikanga Maori means Maori customary values and practices

Traverse and Traverse Sheets, a traverse is the series of survey points the survey team goes to and sets the instrument up to observe new or old survey points and boundary positions. A traverse sheet is the written, calculated record of the fieldwork.

Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is the wording in English and Maori as shown in the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.

Unit, means a part of the land consisting of a building and is shown on a unit title plan.

Variation means alteration by a local authority to a proposed policy statement, plan, or change of conditions to a resource consent decision.

Water—

(a) Means water in all its physical forms whether flowing or not and whether over or under the ground:

(b) Includes fresh water, coastal water, and geothermal water:

(c) Does not include water in any form while in any pipe, tank, or cistern:

Water body means fresh water or geothermal water in a river, lake, stream, pond, wetland, or aquifer, or any part thereof, that is not located within the coastal marine area

water conservation order aims to recognise the outstanding amenity or intrinsic values that waters provide, in either a natural or modified state. Water conservation orders can be used to preserve that natural state or protect characteristics such as:

the water body's value as a habitat or fishery
its wild and scenic nature
its value for recreational, historic, spiritual, cultural or scenic purposes.

Under the Resource Management Act, a water conservation order means an order that imposes restrictions or prohibitions on the exercise of a regional councils' powers, including, in particular, restrictions or prohibitions relating to—

(a) The quantity, quality, rate of flow, or level of the water body; and

(b) The maximum and minimum levels or flow or range of levels or flows, or the rate of change of levels or flows to be sought or permitted for the water body; and

(c) The maximum allocation for abstraction or maximum contaminant loading consistent with the purposes of the order; and

(d) The ranges of temperature and pressure in a water body.

A Water permit, is not a coastal permit.

(1) No person may take, use, dam, or divert any—

(a) Water (other than open coastal water); or

(b) Heat or energy from water (other than open coastal water); or

(c) Heat or energy from the material surrounding any geothermal water—

unless the taking, use, damming, or diversion is allowed by subsection (3).

(2) No person may—

(a) Take, use, dam, or divert any open coastal water; or

(b) Take or use any heat or energy from any open coastal water,—

in a manner that contravenes a rule in a regional plan or a proposed regional plan unless expressly allowed by a resource consent or certain existing lawful activities.

(3) A person is not prohibited by subsection (1) from taking, using, damming, or diverting any water, heat, or energy if—

(a) The taking, use, damming, or diversion is expressly allowed by a rule in a regional plan and in any relevant proposed regional plan or a resource consent; or

(b) In the case of fresh water, the water, heat, or energy is required to be taken or used for—

(i) An individual's reasonable domestic needs; or

(ii) The reasonable needs of an individual's animals for drinking water,—

and the taking or use does not, or is not likely to, have an adverse effect on the environment; or

(c) In the case of geothermal water, the water, heat, or energy is taken or used in accordance with tikanga Maori for the communal benefit of the tangata whenua of the area and does not have an adverse effect on the environment; or

(d) In the case of coastal water (other than open coastal water), the water, heat, or energy is required for an individual's reasonable domestic or recreational needs and the taking, use, or diversion does not, or is not likely to, have an adverse effect on the environment; or

(e) The water is required to be taken or used for fire-fighting purposes.

Wetland includes permanently or intermittently wet areas, shallow water, and land water margins that support a natural ecosystem of plants and animals that are adapted to wet conditions.