Section 42A reportsSection 42A reports are prepared before a hearing to help the RMA hearings process. They include the reasons for accepting or rejecting submissions made on any plan change provision. They can be technically challenging to write and typically require considerable time and mental energy to prepare. Our expert planner, Lucy Cooper, explores the task of writing a great s42A report.
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After section 32 evaluations, section 42A reports are the single most effective way to reduce happy, stable, well-balanced planners into unhinged, dangerous maniacs.
Okay, it's not that bad |
But, we’ve all been there, right? You start out thinking, “800 individual submissions. That’s okay. I can do that. 800 submissions. Plan Change XYZ received 3000 submissions, and Sandra’s ok… now...” You get started. Your full name, including all five of your middle names, for instance. A summary of your awesome planning accomplishments, starting from granting consent at age 5 to your brother’s elaborate sandcastle on Raglan beach that breached the side yard rules, to the present day.
And then reality bites. Really hard. You face 800 submissions that address everything from your use of punctuation in Permitted Activity rule 5.2.5.4.2(a)(i), to business giants accusing you of bringing the nation’s economy to its knees. How do you start organising all that information? How do you start making sense of all those views, opinions and suggestions? |
What? |
What is a s42A report?
For something that takes up a good chunk of your time to prepare, the section of the act that gives the S42A report its name says very little. A local authority may require a report on information provided in any submission; and the report should be made available to submitters either 5 or 15 days before a hearing, depending on the process followed. Clause 10 of Schedule 1 of the RMA is a little more enlightening. This section tells us that the local authority must give a decision on the provisions and matters raised in submissions, including the reasons for accepting or rejecting the submissions. The local authority can address the submissions by grouping them according to the provisions of the proposed statement or plan to which they relate; or to the matters to which they relate. Importantly (in terms of your time and your sanity), there is no requirement to give a decision that addresses each submission individually. |
Why? |
Do we really need one?
Yes! s42A reports should be, in a nutshell, informative, instructive and authoritative to enable decisions to be made efficiently.
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How? |
Now, the burning question. How to create a report that is informative, instructive and authoritative, and doesn’t break you in the process? Here are my Top 5 Tips to s42A writing success:
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If you'd like specialist training in writing s42A reports, we can help!