An abatement notice is a warning issued by Council, to an individual or organisation, that the individual/organisation has not complied with the relevant rules of a District or Regional Plan. The abatement notice will outline what can be done to resolve the situation – one option is to stop the activity that led to the non-compliance.
But don’t panic!
In many cases it is also possible to seek a resource consent from Council to infringe the rules in question. So, for example, if you have built a fence that is higher than is allowed, we may be able to obtain a resource consent for that fence. In other circumstances, a small change to an activity might be all that is required to comply with the rules. For example, your home business might be able to operate legally if you simply changed the hours of that business.
Options
There can often be more options than you realise, depending on the situation, which is why it is important to stay calm and get some professional advice from one of our friendly planners. Based on our experience with abatement notices we also strongly recommend that you act quickly.
If an abatement notice is not dealt with swiftly there can be serious consequences such as a prosecution and fines. In addition, we believe that by making early contact with Council, it is possible to establish some goodwill that can assist in resolving the trickier compliance issues.
So if you receive an abatement notice don’t stress, but definitely don’t ignore it either. Let us help you as soon as possible, because the sooner an abatement notice is addressed the better the outcome will be for you.
Get in touch
To get help with an abatement notice, or to find out more, please feel free to contact one of our friendly planning team on 09 836 1804 or email info@tcec.co.nz.
