Writing a local authority submission

The five stages of the consultation period

The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) requires councils to develop and maintain plans to manage the environment. If any part of a plan needs to be changed or completely updated, the council must follow specific steps. Part of this process involves seeking feedback from the public through submissions. The five stages of the consultation process are:

Drafting: The council drafts a proposed plan or plan change.
Notification and submissions: After the draft is shared, the public can make submissions supporting or opposing the proposed plan or plan change.
Hearings: If a hearing is required, it will be held after the submission period has closed.
Councillors debate: The council will consider submissions and finalise the plan.
Appeals: If you are unsatisfied with the final decision, you can file an appeal, which may involve mediation or hearings through the Environment or High Courts.

What is a submission

The RMA provides several ways for you to get involved in council processes and influence decisions that affect the environment. Making a submission on a proposal is an effective way to have your say and participate. A submission is a written letter that presents your arguments against and/or agreements with the proposal, along with reasoning, evidence, and suggestions for the council to consider. Any member of the public can make a submission on a proposed regional policy statement, plan, or plan change.

Why it is important

It is valuable for councils to hear directly from farmers. Councils must consult with the community and farmers are members of the community.

Explaining how you and your farming business will be affected on a local level is important. If you need to change how you farm in the future under new rules, ask yourself if the changes are achievable and is there enough time being provided to introduce changes.

The reason I’m motivated to make a submission is that the regulations that are coming down the pipeline need to match the practicalities of farming. If we don’t get this right from day one, it will affect farming and the generations to come.

Farmer tip

What you need to know before writing a submission

The first step is to study the documents provided by the council. These are made available online via the council website or in a printed format from your local council or library. It is important to understand the documents. If you’d like support with this, contact DairyNZ or ask your local council officers to explain anything that is unclear.

Ask yourself: How does this directly affect you?
Identify the broader environmental issues that may be impacted.
Review the proposed objectives and note what you agree or disagree with.

How to write a submission

Clearly explain how the proposal will directly affect you, your farming business and/or the environment.
State why you support or oppose the proposal and provide suggestions for alternative approaches to be considered.
Be clear, specific, and use simple language.
Provide examples.
Stick to facts; don’t include personal feelings or refer to unrelated matters.
Clearly tell the council what you want them to do.
Write an introduction, including a brief overview of who you are and whether you support or oppose the proposal.
Structure your submission well, with one point per paragraph.
Conclude with a summary, recapping the points you made. Clearly state what action you want the council to take.
Optional: Use supporting documents, maps, photos, or short videos to emphasise your points.
Make sure to state it if you want to speak at a hearing (your submission is just as valid if you choose not to).

Structure tips

Introduction	Body paragraphs	Conclusion
Provide a brief introduction of who you are.	Use one argument/statement per paragraph and provide clear reasoning.	Summarise the key points.
Clearly state if you support or oppose the proposal.	Use headings throughout to break down the key arguments.	Clearly state what you want the council to do.

What not to do in a submission

A submission (or part of your submission) may be struck out if the authority is satisfied that at least one of the following applies:

Seen as trivial, without real purpose, or intended to annoy, harass, or waste time. • It discloses no reasonable or relevant case.
It would be an abuse of the hearing process to allow the submission (or the part) to be taken further.
It contains offensive language.
It claims to be from an independent expert, but it was prepared by someone who is not independent or doesn’t have the right expertise or skills to give expert advice on the topic.

How to lodge a submission

You can send your submission via email, post, hand delivery, or through the council website (if available). For the submission to be considered, it must be submitted before the closing dates. Councils provide 20 days for a proposed change, 40 days for a proposed policy statement, and 40 days for a proposed plan.

How to make a further submission

The council will create a report summarising the submissions made on the proposal. After the closing date, the council will share the summary on their website and notify you about making a further submission. A further submission is an opportunity for you to respond to points raised by others by opposing or supporting an original submission or part of a submission.

If you would like to make a further submission, you can find the summary report of decisions requested by submitters at your local council or on their website.
A further submission can only oppose or support a submission point made by someone else.
You normally have 10 working days to make a further submission.
Send the further submission back to council and send a copy to the person who made the original submission, within 5 working days of submitting it to council.

What happens after submissions are received

After all submissions are received, the council prepares a report that includes a summary and analysis. They will review the recommendations and decide which parts of the proposal to adopt, remove, or modify. The council will hold a hearing, often with an independent hearing panel or commissioner, if submitters have indicated they want to be heard. If you choose to be heard, the council will notify you of the hearing date. Your submission will still be considered even if you decide not to speak at the hearing.

Once the hearing is over, the panel will write a report with their recommendations to the council. The council will then make a final decision on the plan.

Making an appeal

If you have made a submission and are unsatisfied with the council's final decision, you can file an appeal, which may involve mediation or hearings through the Environment or High Courts. You can make an appeal depending on the type of process taken by the council. You cannot lodge an appeal based on trade competition or if an aspect of your submission was struck out.

If you are thinking of making an appeal, get professional advice first as to whether an appeal is likely to be successful.

DairyNZ’s role

The DairyNZ Policy Team advocates on behalf of farmers and makes a DairyNZ submission on major plan changes that will affect dairy farming. We can support you to understand what is being proposed by sometimes running webinars, adding assessments of the proposal on our website, and letting you know about the submission period via our farmer comms channels. See Advocacy to find out more about DairyNZ submissions.