5. Frequently Asked Questions

A national environmental standard (NES) is a regulation made under sections 43 and 44 of the Resource Management Act 1991. These standards can be numerical limits, narrative statements, or methodologies in a legally enforceable form.

An NES may contain explicit or quantitative statements that will permit certain uses of land that may otherwise require resource consent from some local councils. A local authority may not impose more restrictive requirements than those in the NES unless the NES expressly permits this.

The NES for telecommunication facilities provides direction on technical issues, ensures consistency among district plans, and increases certainty regarding resource consent requirements for the community, local government and the telecommunications industry.

There has been considerable variation between territorial authority district plans in terms of how they address and control the installation of telecommunication antennas (or masts) and equipment cabinets on roadsides. This creates uncertainties and inconsistencies, and can make the process of gaining consent and installing structures time consuming and expensive for telecommunications companies seeking to replace or expand their services across several local authority areas.

The standards seek to create a level playing field across the country. In some areas they will remove the requirement to first obtain resource consent, while in other districts they will place tighter limits on what will require resource consent.

The telecommunication standards address:

• radiofrequency fields generated by telecommunications operators’ antennas
• the erection of roadside equipment cabinets, which can contain equipment for telephones (both landlines and mobiles), cable television and internet
• the addition of antennas to existing structures such as light poles on roadsides or verges – these antennas are used for wireless internet connections and mobile phones, including new technologies that can transmit television, internet and radio to mobile phones and PDAs⁶
• noise levels from roadside cabinets.

In some cases, yes. If a proposed facility cannot comply with the regulations, then a resource consent will be required in accordance with the district plan. It should also be emphasised that if an activity is not permitted by the standard, this does not mean a resource consent should not be granted. It simply means that these consents are subject to the rules in the district plan.

No. The NES is a regulation that takes precedence over anything in a district plan that addresses the same subject material. In a case where a district plan is more restrictive, then the regulations prevail.

Under section 44A, rules in plans that duplicate or conflict with provisions contained in an NES must be removed by amending the plan. This must be done as soon as practicable after the NES comes into force. A rule is deemed to conflict with an NES provision if:

1. both of the following apply:
   (i)      the rule is more stringent than the provision in that it prohibits or restricts an activity that the provision permits or authorises; and
   (ii)     the standard does not expressly say that a rule may be more stringent than it; or
2. the rule is more lenient than the provision.

Councils may amend their plans to include references to an NES (such as in other rules where compliance with the NES may be relevant) without having to use the usual processes under Schedule 1.

In the majority of instances, noise will be measured 3 metres from the front boundary of the site. Noise will be measured in accordance with the Standards New Zealand noise standards for measuring and adjusting noise measurements (NZS 6801: 2008 and NZS 6802: 2008).

If the apparatus is permitted under the regulations, then no. However, you can approach the telecommunications operator, who may in some circumstances be able to accommodate specific location requests for the facility prior to installation. Such instances are provided for in section 148 of the Telecommunications Act 1991, which states:

Sec 148: Alteration to line on road requested by owner

1. If an owner of land or some other person requires a line or works on a road to be altered so that the owner or other person has access to, or reasonable use of, the land, the network operator may require the person who makes the request to pay the cost of the alteration.
2. A network operator is not entitled to be paid the cost of any improvement to a line that is, or works that are, required to be altered by an owner of land or some other person under subsection (1).

For permitted activity status, yes. The NES will ensure that an acceptable size threshold applies across the country. Establishing a consistent threshold will help the roll-out of new technology, as there will be no time spent having to interpret different local government planning controls and designing equipment of slightly different sizes to comply with different size thresholds.

The NES includes a limit on the maximum footprint (and therefore numbers) of roadside cabinets allowed in one specific location, as well as a minimum separation distance to other structures. This reduces the potential for visual cluttering.

No, the NES applies only to equipment cabinets and antennas located within the road reserve, and there is a limit on the footprint, number and size of cabinets permitted.

Telecommunications operators are required to notify the road owner of their intention to install equipment in, on or under a road (under the Telecommunications Act). The road owner may require compliance with specific conditions that include road safety and access. Roads are owned and administered by road-controlling authorities (RCAs). For state highways and motorways the RCA is the New Zealand Transport Agency. The RCA for most other roads is the local council.

No, the NES removes the requirement for telecommunications companies to obtain planning permission (resource consent) for some low-impact structures by the roadside. However, the community can still have a say. Where a district plan has identified specific areas or values the community wishes to protect or manage, then telecommunications operators have to comply with the requirements of the district plan.
Where cabinets and antennas were previously subject to amenity and/or heritage rules, for example, then new cabinets and antennas would not be permitted automatically and would require resource consent to be granted by the local council before they were installed.

There is also a legal requirement under the Telecommunications Act to comply with any conditions imposed by the road-controlling authority for things such as safety and location. Broader consideration of clutter through increased minimum separation distances between cabinets has been applied in the regulations.

The telecommunication NES provides national consistency for what can be installed without first obtaining resource consent, and details on where installation is or is not appropriate. The Ministry for the Environment commissioned consultants to analyse the current planning provisions in the district plans of all local authorities in New Zealand to see whether the NES would be more restrictive, consistent with, or less restrictive than district plans. The results showed that the NES is more restrictive than, or is consistent with, most current district plans for all the areas studied.

The National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities effectively reproduce the existing New Zealand standard for radiofrequency (RF) fields and draw on existing Ministry of Health and Ministry for the Environment national guidance for RF fields that is widely accepted and used in New Zealand.

The World Health Organization (WHO) updated their research in 2006 and concluded: “Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.” A fact sheet produced by WHO explains this further.

The regulations for RF fields were based on international guidelines endorsed by the WHO. The regulation requires a telecommunications company to undertake monitoring if initial modelling indicates that emissions will be more than 25 per cent of the maximum allowed by the standard. The regulations for RF fields also set limits that take into account the RF fields generated from a particular location, not just the fields generated from a single new antenna, thereby addressing potential cumulative effects.

The regulations are intended for telecommunication facilities operated by network operators and are not intended to cover RF fields from personal equipment inside homes, schools or offices.

The Ministry for the Environment participates in a New Zealand inter-agency committee monitoring research in this area. The committee meets twice a year and includes representatives from government, public health, consumer interests and industry. The committee is required to inform the Minister of Health and the Minister for the Environment if there is suspicion of health hazards from exposures to RF fields that comply with current Ministry of Health recommendations. The regulation can be updated if the Minister for the Environment deems it necessary.

Yes – equipment boxes contain cooling fans necessary for their operation. The NES sets daytime and night-time limits for noise from roadside cabinets for residential and non-residential areas. The limits are typical of those found in district plans throughout New Zealand.

The NES is largely based on the voluntary Standards New Zealand standards for environmental noise. The Standards NZ standards were commissioned by the Ministry of Health and prepared by a committee of environmental noise experts. One of the NZ standards is for assessing noise (NZS 6802). It gives a range of noise levels as a guideline for the reasonable protection of health and amenity for land used for residential purposes. Noise limits for less sensitive areas (business and industrial) are typically less stringent, and this is reflected in the telecommunication NES.

The cost–benefit analysis undertaken as part of the development of the discussion document points to cost savings for local councils and the telecommunications industry. There is no need for a local council to go through a costly plan change process when an NES comes into force.

The Ministry for the Environment administers the Resource Management Act, and national environmental standards are provided for in the Act. It is the role of the Ministry for the Environment to consider and develop proposals for national environmental standards.

In the discussion document the Ministry for the Environment noted its views on areas in the proposed standards for which they considered closer scrutiny was required. Part of that scrutiny is the consideration of public submissions. The standards take into account concerns raised by submitters, and the standards have changed as a result of the consultation process.

Yes, the Resource Management (Simplify & Streamline) Act 2009 amended section 139 to explicitly provide for certificates of compliance for activities permitted by national environmental standards.

The provisions of an NES prevail over new designations. However, in circumstances where existing roads are already designated under the Resource Management Act (RMA) before the regulations came into effect, activities permitted under the regulations would still require the written permission from the road-controlling authority: the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) or local government under section 176 of the RMA. This is because the activity is still a use of land under section 9(4) of the RMA and existing designations prevail over the regulations. Further, permission may also be required from NZTA for facilities within the state highway road reserve under section 78 of the Government Roading Powers Act.

Any resource consent that existed prior to 9 October 2008 prevails over the NES itself. This means that all components that required consent can be constructed, without any further authorisations, after 9 October 2008.

If a network operator is relying on an approved resource consent for a telecommunication facility, then the consent and relevant conditions remain. If the facility would no longer require resource consent and is permitted under the NES, then the operator could surrender the existing consent under section 125 of the RMA and rely on the permitted activity status brought about by the NES. This would mean the existing conditions would no longer apply. Unless the consent can be surrendered in full, however, the existing conditions of consent will remain.

The regulations are administered by all territorial authorities within New Zealand. The district or city council with jurisdiction over the area in which the telecommunication facility is proposed is responsible for administration and enforcement relating to the NES regulations.

Yes, existing resource consents (even unimplemented ones) form part of the existing environment and need to be considered when determining compliance with the regulations.