This lovely little property is right in the heart of Waipu town centre and is just perfect for a professional couple or someone living alone.

Semi Furnished with dining table and 6 chairs, Fridge, & Microwave. 2 OSP available

.Water and Lawns Included.

Monies required 4wks bond 2wks inadv 1wk let fee +GST

We are asking businesses within our community to come along and introduce themselves, bring their business cards or ideas and discounts for the other business’ to get involved .

Bookings are essential please contact:

Dianne Erceg – 021757466 –  dianne@goodground.com

Lynda O’Riley –  0211427024 –  lynda@goodground.com

Notes from the last Business Breakfast

Our last breakfast meeting was on January 25th 2012 at Outboards Restaurant, Ruakaka.  Again it was a great success with about 42 interested business people attending.

Speakers on the day were The Honourable Mayor of Whangarei – Mr Morris Cutforth, and Mr Craig Brown Chairman of the Regional council and Shelly Deeming our Local Councillor.

Discussion about the Rail Link, Leasing of Land down at the Marsden Point Port to create business in our area.  There was discussion about development in the Whangarei area with regards to Tenders – Who decides what Tender to accept and why are so many large contracts going for Tender outside the area.  Surely there is enough local expertise or if not, the majority of sub-contract work should be done by locals.

Mr Morris Cutforth spoke about the possiblity of cruise ships coming to Whangarei.

Other local small business members spoke about their businesses and involvement in the area.  This was great, as we are hoping is that all local businesses can benefit from their involvement in these business meetings.

Sarah Goffin from Westpac Ruakaka spoke  the help that the local bank could offer and congratulated the attendees for their positive attitude.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday March 28th 2012 at 7.45am at Outboards Restaurant, Ruakaka.

Councils will normally charge you an administration fee for considering your application, and they may also charge for ongoing monitoring.  Costs range from council to council, but generally non-notified consents cost between $500 and $3000 and notified consents cost between $3000 and $10,000.

From July 2010, if the council does not process an application on time and it is the council’s fault, the council must refund part of the application fee.

Further Information

If you require further help with understanding if you need a resource consent or help lodging a resource consent you can ask to meet council who can give assistance in lodging your consent or you can go to a consultancy where an environmental planner can put the application together and lodge the resource consent on your behalf.

Other people in the community that may be able to assist or provide advice include:

- Any staff at goodGround Real Estate Ltd office
- the citizens advice bureau
- environment and legal centres
- legal advisers
- the Ministry for the Environment website
- resource management consultants

Check your local community directory or the Yellow Pages to find out how to contact them.

However it is always a good idea to talk to your local city or district council first. Council staff can help you look through the relevant plans and work out whether you’ll need a resource consent.

The council can process your application for resource consent in one of three ways, depending on what the relevant plan says and the kind of activity you’re proposing.  The council may decide that the general public need not be involved; this is called a non-notified application.  In fact, most resource consent applications fall into this category, which means that there is no submission or hearings process.

Proposals are publicly notified if they will have or are likely to have an effect on the environment that is ‘more than minor’.   Alternatively, the council may decide there should be limited notification of your application.  This means the council notifies only those people who it considers might be affected by what you’re proposing.  Council staff will tell you whether or not your application will be limited or publicly notified.

Anyone can make a submission on applications that have been publicly notified.  The only exception is if you’re a trade competitor to someone else’s business and you want to oppose their application only for trade or business reasons.   A public hearing is usually held to give applicants and submitters a chance to speak, and informal pre-hearing meetings may also be held.  If you need consents from both a regional council and a district or city council, the two councils may decide to hear the applications together.

Councils can decide to either grant or decline a resource consent.  Some activities are ‘controlled activities’; applications to do these must be granted, except for a few exceptions.  Even so, when granting consent, the council usually puts some conditions on it.   Councils also decide how long to grant resource consent for.  Some consents, like subdivision, last forever, while others might last only for a couple of years, for example, a permit to take water from a river.

Councils are expected to process non-notified applications in roughly a month and notified applications in about four months.
You can help make sure your consent application is processed quickly by:

- talking to the council staff early on about what you want to do
- talking to people who you or the council thinks might be affected by your proposal
- giving the council a well-prepared assessment of environmental effects
- responding quickly to requests for further information as the council can decline applications if there is insufficient information to process it

Part 6: Costs and Further Information coming soon!

Assessment of Environmental Effects

If you need to obtain a resource consent, then the district/city or regional council should also explain how to go about preparing an assessment of environmental effects (AEE). Every application for a resource consent must include an assessment of environmental effects.

An AEE identifies all the environmental effects, positive and negative, of a proposed activity, and ways in which any negative effects can be prevented or reduced.  The amount of information the council requires will depend on the activity proposed and the kind of resource consent you need.  Therefore, if the application is for a large subdivision then a large details AEE is required where if you are carrying out a two lot subdivision a smaller application is required.

If you’re thinking about buying some land, a business or a building, or you want to subdivide land, discharging waste water into a stream, moving earth, or discharging pollution into the air and these plans fall outside the rules in your regional or district Plans you will need to get a resource consent.

One job for councils is deciding whether to grant resource consents to people wanting to undertake activities that might affect the environment.

Whether you’ll need a resource consent, and what type of consent you’ll need, depends on the type of activity you want to do, and how it’s classified in your local district or regional plan.  Every council plan is different, so don’t simply assume that just because you didn’t need a consent in one town, you won’t need a consent in another. There are also likely to be differences between areas within a district/city or region depending on what ‘zone’ your activity falls in.

Before you start any activity that might affect your neighbours, your wider community or your environment, contact your local council or check out their website.  Council staff will tell you whether you need to apply for a resource consent.  They will also tell you if the activity is prohibited, which means that it is expressly not allowed and you can’t even apply for a resource consent.

Activities that need a resource consent are classified as controlled, restricted discretionary, discretionary and non-complying. The council has to grant a resource consent for a controlled activity (with a couple of exceptions), but can refuse to grant a resource consent for a restricted discretionary, discretionary or non-complying activity.

There are five types of resource consent:

-land-use consent
-subdivision consent
-water permit
-discharge permit
-coastal permit

If you do need to apply for a resource consent, council staff will tell you:

-how your activity is classified in the plan, and what kind of resource consent you need to apply for
-whether you need to apply to both the district/city and the regional council for a resource consent (or they will refer you to the other council)
-what information you need to supply in support of your application
-how long the process is likely to take, and how much the council is likely to charge

The first step is always to contact the council to discuss the activity you want to do. If you’re unsure whether your activity will affect your neighbours, community or environment, check with the council; don’t just go ahead.

Part 4: Assessment of Environmental Effects & Public Consultation coming soon!

The RMA requires councils to create plans that help them manage the environment. These plans contain all sorts of rules and conditions for activities that might affect the environment.  District and regional plans are one of the most important aspects of the RMA.  The RMA says that councils have to prepare plans to help them manage the environment in their area.  It is these plans that tell you what you can or cannot do as of right, and there are several different types.

 Regional plans, (created by a regional council), tend to concentrate on particular parts of the environment, like the coast, soil, a river or the air. They set out how discharges or activities involving these resources will be managed to stop the resources being degraded or polluted, for example, the construction of jetties, and the discharge of wastewater from factories into waterways.

Most New Zealanders are pretty savvy about international events.

In a recent survey of clients it was found that world events would  have an impact on Real Estate in New Zealand.  How does this “global perspective” relate to our domestic Real Estate market?

It appears to be a matter of confidence or rather lack of confidence in world economics that is making buyers cautious.  This state of mind appears to be true for most of New Zealand but not for Auckland.  The big smoke seems to have a mind of its own with property prices holding firm or showing small increases.  The rest of us are suffering a pretty flat market.

Northland property prices are down around 17% from the highs of 05/06.  The recent rating valuations in Kaipara have come well down.  Some properties are even showing a 35% drop in rating valuation.  After 5 years of relatively low volume and value in sales turnaround, many vendors have adjusted their thinking to meet the prevailing market conditions.

With these factors in mind goodGround is expecting a challenging but improving year for Real Estate in the North.  We expect to see continuing good sales of lifestyle properties, a small lift in rural sales and an increased volume of coastal holding changing hands.  The residential market is showing signs of recovery with houses selling rapidly when they are priced near valuation.

At goodGround we wish you all a very happy New Year and we will be working hard for you,  to make 2012 the best year yet!

Refurbished and modernised beach bach for rent One Tree Point Rd.

This 2 double and 1 single bedroom unfurnished home is ideal for the beach lifestyle.

It has a sleepout that can be used as 2^nd lounge, that can hold a queen bed, or simply used for extra storage of beach toys.

Under house storage room and the property provides, off street parking for cars, boats and tents.

This house is 60m from the yacht club so a nice meal out is close at hand!

On the school bus route for Ruakaka Primary, Bream Bay College and OTP Primary it is a flat walk to the dairy and Marsden Cove Marina, not to mention the Miles of harbour side walking and swimming.

$320pw includes water and lawn maintenance.

4 wks for bond

2 wks inadv

1 wk let fee + GST

This character bungalow sits in a ½ acre of easy care land with views to the River and is a short walk to Waipu township and the Waipu Fishing Club. On septic tank but has town power and water. Suitable for a large family or group of tenants it houses

5 double bedrooms with built in closets

Large open family living, dining and kitchen area with a wood burner.

Separate office space or study

Family bathroom

Separate shower room

Separate toilet

Some renovation happening at present however the house is available for viewing but will be ready Jan 23rd.

Pets by Negotiation

Monies required 4wks bond, 2wks rent in advance, 1 wk let + GST