Legal Advice and Legal Aid
Legal advice
If you are considering lodging an appeal against a Council decision about a District Plan or a resource consent application, or someone else has appealed against such a decision you were involved in, or you want to become a party to an appeal, you should seek legal advice. You can find an environment lawyer through the District Law Society, or your local Community Law Centre, or your closest Environment Court Registry can provide you with a list of environment lawyers.
Court staff cannot provide you with legal advice. They can advise you on what form you need to complete to make an application, and on court processes, but they cannot tell you what to say in your application.
Legal Aid
If you are eligible, legal aid may available. To find out if you are eligible for legal aid, talk to your lawyer or contact your local Community Law Centre.
Environmental Legal Assistance Fund
Also, the Ministry for the Environment has an Environmental Legal Assistance Fund. Applications can be made for assistance from the Fund to help pay for legal and other professional assistance in resource management litigation. The fund is only available to New Zealand environmental, community, iwi and hapu groups, not individuals. For further information, go to the Ministry's website at www.mfe.govt.nz.
0800 RMA INFO