A new ‘planning and development professional services’ panel for council will help the in-house team that works on resource consents, building consents, resource management engineering, and planning policy. 

Over the past few years the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has processed around 1,400 resource consent and around 1,900 building consent applications each year - more than many of the country’s biggest cities.

QLDC chief executive Mike Theelen said the council had released a request for proposal (RFP) for a panel of people which could help ease the pressure on the council team dealing with the large volumes of applications.

“As our district is one of the fastest growing regions in New Zealand, we deal with a large number of resource consents, building consents and other approvals to match demand,” Mike said. 

“By having a panel of additional technical support and resources to draw upon, it will provide the flexibility to right-size resources when needed through the peaks and troughs.”

QLDC planning and development general manager Tony Avery said that once appointed, the panel members would be preferred suppliers for the delivery of professional services.

“We are seeking to appoint two resource types to the panel: those of ‘specialist’ and ‘on-going support,” he said.

“The on-going support will supplement the in-house team for work including consent processing and reports. The specialist support will provide additional technical expertise which we currently outsource periodically. This includes landscape, noise, and geotech assessments.” 

Tony said council aimed to appoint based on the best fit for each discipline and relevant expertise, plus their understanding of and commitment to the district. 

“The panel will be a consistent resource for us and an extension of the in-house team,” Tony said.

The RFP is open for applications until midday on October 9 via the GETS portal.

PHOTO: Supplied