Written by Ashwita Murphy, Planning Team Leader at Thomas Consultants and Imogen Trupinic, Senior Planner at Thomas Consultants What is changing? The Government has proposed an overhaul of the current Resource Management Act (1991) (RMA). A total of three acts will replace the RMA: Natural Built Environments Act (NBA), Strategic Planning Act (SPA) and Climate…
Written by Melanie Dixon – Principal Ecologist at Thomas Consultants Last September the Government bought in new strong rules to protect wetlands – with good reason – recent work by the National Wetland Trust and others shows that we’re continuing to lose wetlands in New Zealand at an alarming rate. Roll on one year the…
Written by Sam Woolley, Team Leader Soils & Ecology What is a contaminated site? Land is contaminated when hazardous substances such as heavy metals and pesticides (including DDT, dieldrin, lead and arsenic) are found in the soil in concentrations above naturally occurring soil levels. You can find a detailed list of hazardous substances listed on…
We have some exciting news as we grow here at Thomas Consultants Ltd! Across June and July we have welcomed several new members to the Thomas Consultants Ltd team due to new business growth, adding a huge wealth of experience to our already highly experienced team. To bolster our growing Soils and Ecology team we…
Written by Charlotte Grieve – Landscape Architect at Thomas Consultants When designing your home or development often the landscape design is an afterthought or something to check the boxes for conditions around gaining Resource Consent. But if brought into the project early on, Landscape Architects can have a profound effect on the overall success of…
Thomas Consultants appreciates that a business is part of the community, and as such we enjoy supporting great projects and causes that align with our values both in New Zealand and overseas. We were originally approached by Auckland Council to assist with this project and due to the community aspect, we offered our services pro-bono.…
We’ve been busy here at Thomas Consultants Ltd! In recent months we have welcomed several new members to the Thomas Consultants team due to new business growth. Joseph McCready joins us as Team Leader for our Landscape Architecture and Project Management team coming with a wealth of experience. We also have 2 new planners on board, Ashwita Murphy-…
WHAT IS RAINWATER HARVESTING? Rainwater Harvesting is the collection and storage of rainwater that would otherwise flow down gutters into the drain. Rainwater is collected from the roof and re-used within the home and garden. This can help to keep your garden thriving throughout summer, as well as making your home more sustainable. BENEFITS Installing…
Great news for homeowners, builders and DIY enthusiasts! In August 2020, new exemptions will be introduced to the Building Act, to allow “low risk” buildings like sleep-outs, carports and sheds to be constructed without a building consent!
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…
If you want to carry out vegetation alterations or removals from your property, you may require a resource consent, particularly if it is within a significant ecological area or native bush. Some examples where vegetation clearance (and therefore an ecological assessment) is likely to be required include:
In these post “Grand Designs” times, we tend to accept that we’ll encounter some disasters along the way with our renovation. The budget could blow out, the weather might delay completion, or perhaps we might uncover an ancient evil when digging in the basement. And then of course, there is Council…