A hearing panel is made up of councillors and/or independent commissioners.
Their role is to listen to submitters’ arguments for and against a proposal. They may make a final decision on a proposal (if the council has given them that authority). However, final decisions on a full plan or a freshwater planning instrument cannot be delegated and must be made by councils.
If you have concerns about who will hear a proposal, discuss this with council staff. The council may decide to change the panel members or a commissioner if there is a strong reason that this should happen.
For consents, the applicant or submitters can ask the council to appoint an independent commissioner – or a panel of independent commissioners – to hear and decide on the application. If a submitter requests this, they must meet the costs, but if the applicant makes the same request, they meet the costs.
In these cases, the panel may be made up of councillors and/or commissioners.
In these cases, the Chief Freshwater Commissioner has been appointed by the Minister for the Environment to convene freshwater hearing panels. These panels are usually made up of:
- two local representatives (or commissioners nominated by the council)
- one member with an understanding of tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori (selected from members nominated by tangata whenua)
- two members from a pool of freshwater commissioners appointed by the Minister for the Environment.
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The hearing panel
February 2021
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