High Court Decision on Consents Welcomed

28 March 2006

MEDIA STATEMENT 27 March 2006

Selwyn District WelcomesHigh Court Decision on Building Consents

Selwyn DistrictCouncil has welcomed the decision by the High Court sJustice Chisholm to dismiss an application for a mandamusorder that would have forced the Council to issue buildingconsents within a shorter timeframe than it canmanage.

"This is an immense relief to us, as theimplications for Selwyn and other councils in a similarposition were potentially devastating," said the Council sChief Executive, Paul Davey.

For the past two years, theCouncil has struggled to rein in a backlog of buildingconsent applications created by the district s surginggrowth rate of nearly three percent per annum.

Despitetaking on new staff and streamlining its procedures, theCouncil s consent processing times have increased from thestatutory limit of 20 working days to around 60 workingdays.

This led one applicant to apply to the High Courtfor an order of mandamus which would have required theCouncil to issue the applicant s backlogged building consentforthwith.

In delivering his decision, Justice Chisholmrejected the applicant s charge that the Council s attitudewas "cavalier" and accepted "that the Council is facinggenuine problems in complying with its statutory obligationswhich are largely beyond its control, at this stage atleast."

Referring to a similar case in England, he saidthat an order for mandamus should not be granted when "thereis evidence that a local authority is doing all that ithonestly and honourably can to meet the statutoryobligation" and where such an order would compel the Councilto do "that which either it cannot do or which it can onlydo at the expense of other persons."

His decision todismiss the case was conditional on the Council speeding upthe delivery of the applicant s building consent - acondition which Justice Chisholm warned should not beinterpreted by others as a precedent.

His said that asignificant element in the decision had been the "floodgatesfactor" - the potential for a flood of copycat mandamusorders to compound rather than resolve the Council sbuilding consent problems. He said this factor was alsolikely to "play a significant role" if other people weretempted to issue mandamus proceedings.

Finally, the judgeurged the Council to continue being proactive in its effortsto address the consent backlog and delays. He said that,while he was satisfied that the Council is acting honourablyand reasonably in its efforts to bring the problem undercontrol, this argument will not hold water indefinitely ifthe consent situation does not improve.

In welcoming thedecision, Mr Davey said that the Court clearly recognisesthat Council staff are acting responsibly and endorses theCouncil s actions to date.

"Nonetheless, we also take onboard his concern that we remain proactive," said Mr Davey."We are very aware of the inconvenience and frustration thatthis situation is causing our consent applicants and we willcontinue to do everything we can to improve consent deliverytimes without sacrificingquality."

ENDS
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