What's being done?

If a consented activity is found to be non-compliant, or is operating outside the rules of a Regional Plan, the Council can:

· Make an on-site agreement;

· Issue a warning letter;

· Issue an abatement notice – this will require a person to stop or not start a non-compliant action, or fix a non-compliant action;

· Issue an infringement notice – which carries a variety of fines;

· Serve an enforcement order; and

· In cases of significant non-compliance, the Council may also choose to prosecute an offender.

In 2009-2010:

· 352 abatement notices and 227 infringement notices were issued by the Council;

· Just over 50% were issued for a breach of the rules in a regional plan; and

· The remainder were issued as a result of a breach of resource consent.

The number of abatement and infringement notices issued by the Council has increased steadily over the last four years. This is largely due to the Council taking a harder line on non-compliance.