What is an Assessment of Environmental Effects?

If you need a resource consent to develop land, then it won’t be long before you come across the term “Assessment of Environmental Effects”. An AEE is a critical part of a resource consent application. This is a report which identifies the effects of your planned development on the environment and community. It also identifies ways that these effects can be avoided or reduced.

As planning and traffic specialists, we’re regularly employed to prepare AEEs for clients

Effects on the environment can be short-term or long-term, positive or negative, and may include:

  • traffic and parking
  • heritage or streetscape character
  • overshadowing of properties
  • reduction in privacy
  • noise and vibration
  • flooding
  • stability of land
  • infrastructure (capacity)
  • people and community.

How detailed the AEE needs to be depends on the the scale and significance of the potential effects. If it doesn’t have enough detail, this could delay your project, increase processing costs, increase the chance of the application being notified or requiring written approvals, and ultimately reduce the chance of getting consent.

If your proposal is likely to have significant effects, you would be wise to engage a resource management planner. The team at Avanzar Consulting can prepare a detailed AEE, provide specialist traffic engineering input, and coordinate any necessary input from other experts such as landscape architects, geotechnical, stormwater and acoustic engineers, and heritage advisors.

Our goal is to make your journey through the consenting process as efficient and stress free as possible.

To find out more, download our free Resource Consent Guide and Checklist, or have a chat to one of our team.

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