We are facing delays in processing applications due to current staff shortages.
If you want to subdivide your land, you'll always need a resource consent. It's a very technical type of consent, so this section gives you information about how subdivision consents work, and some things you might need to consider.
You need a subdivision consent from the Council for any subdivision that you want to do, including boundary adjustments.
Subdivision consents are required to make sure that:
Like any resource consent, subdivision consents are processed and assessed under the Resource Management Act 1991.
The Resource Management Act 1991 and the Local Government Act 2002 gives the Council the mandate and obligation to control subdivision.
The framework guiding our decisions on subdivision is shaped in the following documents:
You may find the subdivision of land is often a time consuming process as it involves a number of steps. The very simplest of subdivisions can take three to four months to complete. More complicated or larger ones will take a lot longer. Despite some statutory time periods, the time it take us to complete a subdivision generally relies on the work you do as the applicant.
While you may be able to do some of the subdivision processes yourself, there are some tasks that you will need to involve professionals - such as land surveyors, engineers and lawyers.
If you are thinking about subdividing your land, please make sure you discuss your plans with one of our subdivision planners before you prepare your application. To arrange this, please call the Customer Services team on 03 543 8400 or use the elctronic form to make an online request.
When we grant you a subdivision consent, the Council may require that certain conditions are included on the new records of title for the property. These capture the agreement between the Council and the land owner when the landowner will have an ongoing obligation.
We want to make sure that current and future property owners are fully aware of any ongoing obligations or restrictions that they will have to follow. We do this by registering a consent notice on the title explaining that obligation or restriction. These include matters such as:
As an agreement between the Council and the land owner, if the land owner doesn't meet their side of the agreement, then we do take steps to enforce the obligation or restriction in the consent notice.
As the land owner, you can ask us to consider changing or cancelling any consent notice at any time after the deposit of the survey plan. We have to take into account the original reason for the consent notice when we assess your application.
The process to change or cancel a consent notice is a type of resource consent application.
| Natural hazards |
Areas within the Tasman District are subject to a number of natural hazards, such as:
We need detailed assessments of these natural hazards as part of your subdivision application to determine the level of risk to any new building site, road or infrastructure. The risks from natural hazards are required to be mitigated to an acceptable level or consent may be declined. The planning maps of the TRMP identify some (but not all) of these hazard areas. |
| Contaminated sites |
If the land being subdivided was used for activities such as a historic orchard, timber treatment, fuel storage, a rubbish dump or contains an old sheep dip, then the soil may be contaminated in some places. As part of processing a subdivision consent we may require an assessment of any contamination. If contmaination is found, remediation of the contamination to acceptable levels for its intended use is a necessary part of the subdivision process. The Council holds information on the HAIL Register about many of these potentially contaminated sites, and we will provide it on request. You get this information when by applying for a Land Information Memorandum (LIM). |
| Stormwater servicing |
You must assess the stormwater discharge, diversion or drainage into water from any new roads, accesses or rights of way created as part of a subdivision. Your assessment must also take into account the stormwater from any future dwellings built on the new lots created. Any stormwater generated by a subdivision must be discharged to a stormwater system that has enough capacity or else you may have to provide onsite detention. A specific stormwater discharge consent will be required if the stormwater discharge, diversion or drainage into water cannot meet the permitted activity criteria of rule 36.4.2.1 of the TRMP. Then you must also apply for a discharge permit with your subdivision consent. |
| Wastewater servicing |
If your subdivision is within established townships a wastewater connection may available if the Council network has capacity. The majority of rural areas will need you to provide onsite wastewater treatment for your subdivision. The type of wastewater treatment system required will depend on:
While you will find a number of proprietary systems available, you may find other more passive (low energy) forms of onsite treatment are appropriate for your site. A wastewater consultant or engineer can help. You will need a specific wastewater discharge permit for new discharges in the Wastewater Management Area (Coastal Tasman Area). There are other areas in Tasman which also have more stringent wastewater rules, called 'special domestic wastewater disposal areas'. |
| Water supply |
You must provide a reliable and potable water supply for new residential dwellings. This water supply may include water stored from roofs. For subdivisions within the business and industrial zones a water connection is usually required by the conditions of any approved consent. The majority of the rural water supply systems are fully allocated. |
| Roads and access |
Unformed road reserve, roads within a proposed subdivision and rights-of-way are required to be formed in accordance with the requirements of Section 18.8, Rule 16.2.2.1 and Figure 16.2A of the TRMP. The detailed construction standards are contained in the Council’s Engineering Standards & Policies 2013 and the Nelson Tasman Land Development Manual. |
| Rights-of-way |
A right-of-way is a particular type of easement, which allows the owners of one property - the 'dominant' party - to have vehicle and/or pedestrian access over a portion of another property - the 'servient' party. A right-of-way easement is created either:
Generally any change requires the agreement of both the dominant and servient parties. The Council permission may also be required if the right-of-way was a condition of a subdivision consent. The Tasman Resource Management Plan has minimum formation standards for rights-of-way which we can require as a condition of any consent to create a right-of-way. Please refer to the Land Development Manual for construction details for right-of-ways. |
| Esplanade reserves or strips |
If your subdivision has land adjacent to the coast or riverbank, then the Council will consider if an esplanade reserve or esplanade strip is needed for future public access or the protection of conservation values. |
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