Te Kahu o Taonui
Resource consents
Resource consents are official permissions required before certain activities—like building, earthworks, or water use—can take place, to make sure they don’t harm the environment or cultural values.
Regional councils mainly handle consents for activities affecting water, air, and land across the wider rohe (such as water takes, discharges, and coastal works), while district councils focus on land use consents within towns and communities (like building, subdivision, and land development).
This system is intended to protect the taiao and ensure iwi and hapū have a say in decisions that affect their whenua, but as you probably know, it doesn't always work out that way.
Te Kahu o Taonui has developed tools to help iwi, hapū or marae to simplify and speed up the process of responding to resource consent applications. Here are two tools that you can use.
The Resource Consent Portal is a GIS and AI-enabled, iwi-centric platform that enables easy access to resource consent applications, analyses consent data, supports two-way engagement with councils, and upholds data sovereignty. Its design is informed by ongoing feedback and aims to empower iwi and hapū to participate more effectively and efficiently in resource management processes across Te Tai Tokerau and potentially nationwide.
The Resource Consent Portal is available to iwi, hapū, or marae-based people working on resource consent feedback. The app is open source. If you want to register, or set up the app on your own site email dave@tkot.org.nz.
Access the Resource Consent Portal via the Te Kahu o Taonui website.
Resource Consent Feedback Guide
This guide will help you to optimise AI help to respond to a resource consent. Access the consent information from your council, and add it to a prompt in an AI agent requesting a response. Over time you can refine the prompt and add other information sources.