Leading resource management and planning across a broad range of sectors.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is critical to the economic performance of our communities and quality of life.

It enables trade, connects people, creates opportunities for communities, and protects the nation from an increasingly unpredictable natural environment. Effective and efficient infrastructure is the backbone of a healthy economy and social wellbeing.

We work extensively with infrastructure providers to meet the opportunities and challenges in the planning, development and management of their assets and networks across New Zealand.

Urban Development and Subdivision

The availability of land for urban development is currently a major issue facing New Zealand.

Successful land development projects must ensure that the end product meets the needs of the market while responding to the environment in which it is located.

Skilled assessments of the relevant district plans and policy statements are becoming more important as these documents become increasingly complex, and this sits at the heart of our input into these projects. Prudent management of technical inputs, including transportation advice, 3 waters services feasibility, urban design, and council processes, is key to delivering developments on time and budget.

Ports, Aquaculture and Coastal Development

The coastal environment is highly valued by all New Zealanders. It is a dynamic space which requires careful and balanced management.

Public awareness of coastal values, and how these are affected by development is higher than ever. New Zealand’s planning framework has become more directive as to how effects on these values should be managed, including natural character, coastal landscapes, biodiversity, and the relationship of Tangata Whenua with the coastal environment.

Navigating the approval process can be challenging, even for industries whose activities rely on and have a long-standing presence in the coastal environment, such as ports and aquaculture. Our team has an excellent working knowledge of this unique planning environment and the key environmental issues at play.

We are also at the forefront of coastal hazards planning in New Zealand. Sea level rise, coastal erosion and coastal inundation are pressing issues. It is essential that our coastal communities, businesses and critical infrastructure are resilient to the effects of coastal hazards. We assist councils and communities with understanding coastal hazard vulnerability and with developing strategies for adapting to climate change and sea-level rise using community-based decision-making models.

Energy

Energy is central to our well-being. In New Zealand, we are endowed with a range of natural renewable energy sources that are harnessed to meet most of our country’s electricity demand.

However, like the rest of the world, New Zealand faces two major energy challenges. The first is how to respond to climate change by reducing greenhouse gases caused by the production and use of energy. The second is to deliver clean, secure, affordable energy while treating the environment responsibly.

The team at Mitchell Daysh has the experience and skill sets to assist in meeting these future low-carbon challenges. Our consultation experience, gained across multiple energy disciplines, can support clients to align strategies and operations to become more sustainable. We can also help to influence policy development processes and outcomes to ensure a client’s future success in an ever-increasing energy-conscious world.

We already work with large New Zealand electricity generators to achieve these types of outcomes. We assist with planning processes, new generation development, re-consenting, and plant reconfiguration - all to achieve net gains towards a more sustainable energy future while ensuring the lights stay on.

Industry

Industrial processing is a major player in providing for New Zealand’s regional and national economic wellbeing.

These activities often face issues that demand innovative and sustainable planning solutions - both in their initial establishment and continued operation. Traffic, noise, dust, vibration, odour, visual impacts and discharges are just some of the effects to address in obtaining resource consent. National and regional regulation is constantly changing, meaning agile, robust and innovative solutions are needed.

Airports

Modern airports are sophisticated and dynamic hubs of activity.

They have evolved well beyond the traditional “aerodrome” and now encompass a broad range of activities designed to meet the changing needs of aircraft, passengers, staff, and those who meet and greet travelers. Global aviation trends are forecasting significant continued growth in this sector, placing increasing pressure on airport infrastructure and their operating parameters.

We work with airports to embed land-use planning solutions that provide for the rapidly evolving characteristics of the sector while managing community expectations around noise impacts and aircraft emissions.

Minerals and Quarrying

New Zealand’s mineral reserves are a valuable national asset, and significant quarrying and mining developments underpin our regional economies.

However, our mining and extractives industries inhabit a challenging planning environment. Extraction and production can only happen where the minerals are present and economically recoverable. This causes tensions that need to be carefully researched, considered, and managed because the biodiversity and other natural values with which minerals are co-located are often themselves significant.

Water

Freshwater is essential to New Zealand’s environmental, cultural, economic and social well-being.

As water quality and quantity targets are set and new regulations introduced, the framework used to manage water in our country continues to evolve. Now more than ever, a thorough understanding of this framework is needed for anybody involved in the development of land, discharges to land and water, and the taking, damming, or diverting of fresh water.

Mana Whenua and the Cultural Landscape

The principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the important relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu, and other taonga are embedded in the RMA.

However, it is the importance of partnership, including the need to recognise Mana Whenua as partners, that is often overlooked in the resource management landscape.

We have an extensive resumé of working in partnership with Mana Whenua in providing strategic planning and resource management advice on culturally significant projects and planning processes with the protection of and provision for cultural values and interests at the forefront.

Local Government

We understand local government and the challenges faced by councils in responding to evolving national direction.

Providing for growth and development, ensuring infrastructure and services are integrated, and managing and protecting our natural environment is just the start. With upcoming changes to freshwater, air, biodiversity, urban development and climate change response policy, and the introduction of planning standards, we help councils meet the challenge of achieving resource management best practice.

Our collective expertise equips us to understand how the resource management process is likely to shape and influence any type of development.