Owners liability and the RMA

The Resource Management Act 1991 sets out how Councils develop plans, how consents are granted and importantly how people are held responsible when they do not comply with the RMA, a plan or a consent.  The RMA does not solely focus on the person undertaking the activity or omitting to do what they are supposed to, landowners can also be held liable.

This means there may be situations where as a landowner, people are given access to your land to use it, to visit or to carry out work for you or someone else and where those persons act in a way that breaches the RMA, plans or consent, the land owner might find themselves having to answer to Council.

There are defenses available to landowners that revolve around reasonableness, knowledge and care taken by the landowner.  As always evidence of what the landowner knew, and allowed is also necessary.

It is best then to understand clearly who is coming onto your property, what they intend to do and whether it is allowed to be done.  If understood early enough measures can be built into any legal arrangements, you have to provide a degree of protection to you as landowner.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your options further if you are considering letting someone carry out an activity on your land, even at your direction or have found yourself in the position of something occurring already that may well shouldn’t have.