Element Planning

03/01/2022

A busy end to the year and a race to the finish line securing a non notified resource consent for the 10,000 person Gold Rush Music Festival at the Waihi A&P Showgrounds. A great boost for the local economy and I hope lots of fun and smiles for many today, after a difficult year.

23/08/2021

We are continuing our work as usual during Lockdown Level 4, with the exception of site visits that need to be virtual and children that need to be fed every five minutes! 😏

17/06/2021

We are so pleased to have been able to help Waihi Beach School with a donation towards their digital equity project, a worthy cause.

We are working to reduce inequities for our school whānau by increasing equity with digital tools in our classroom environment.

28/09/2020

We work very hard to provide the best service and communication to our clients. We would love to be nominated!

Be in quick to nominate the business, team or individual that has been outstanding in 2019 and 2020. Nominations close this coming Sunday! https://www.katikatiwaihibeachcommunityawards.co.nz/
The categories are:
BEST ARTS INDIVIDUAL
BEST SPORTS INDIVIDUAL
BEST SPORTS COACH
BEST SPORTS TEAM
BEST VOLUNTEER INDIVIDUAL
BEST VOLUNTEER GROUP
RETAIL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
SERVICE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
HOSPITALITY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
​TOURISM AWARD

01/09/2020

Oh dear; We have been so busy helping our clients, we missed celebrating that we have now been in business for 6 years. Better late than never. Happy Birthday to us!! 👏🏻🎉🎊

23/07/2020

Great news for Planning in NZ? Urban environments in particular areas will no longer be required to provide parking (but can if they want to). Our main city centres will not be allowed to restrict the height of buildings to less than six stories. These changes need to be implemented by 2022.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300064493/government-moves-to-end-minimum-carpark-requirements-and-remove-low-heightlimits-in-bid-to-increase-dense-housing

Government moves to stop councils imposing height limits below six storeys or minimum numbers of carparks in dramatic bid to increase housing density.

23/07/2020

One of the projects Michelle is currently working on receiving some attention in the media today.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/122223120/seven-new-shops-on-the-cards-for-te-kowhai-next-to-relocated-church

Developer who moved a historic church to the town is hoping to bring seven new shops to the area.

29/05/2020

Lots of people have been asking us about the new rule that allow exemptions for 30m2 buildings.

If you would like to build a 30m2 structure whether it’s a shed, garage, or sleepout, please note the following regarding whether you need “consent”:

🔹The District Plan rules STILL apply. 30m2 buildings are not exempt from needing to comply with your District/Unitary Plan and you may find you still need a resource consent even if you don’t need a building consent. So don’t go building anything without checking your district plan rules first.

🔹When the exemption references “sleep out”. They mean a building for sleeping in with no bathroom or kitchen facilities. As soon as you put sanitary systems in, you need a building consent. You can also have a separate definition under the District Plan for what constitutes a sleep out. So you might also need a resource consent whether it has sanitary systems or not.

🔹You also still need to build any structure to building code standard (so ask a builder about this side of things we only deal in resource consents)

🔹If you are confused or want further clarification comment below with your questions and I’d be happy to help.

Remember building consents and resource consents are two different things with two different purposes. The 30m2 exemption only applies to building consents not resource consents.

Michelle

27/08/2019

Yesterday I appeared on behalf of the Waikato District Council evaluating evidence and making a recommendation to a Hearings Panel on whether or not Pokeno get a new Countdown Supermarket in the Main Street. I started working on this particular project in Nov 2018 but my history with the site goes back to 2015 when they were seeking consent for a smaller supermarket.... Growth in the area has been so well beyond predicted levels that they rethought their plans and came back for this bigger 3000m2 store! The design includes a snazzy seating area for people wanting to stop off and enjoy an ice cream that Pokeno is so famous for. What do you think? - Michelle

15/02/2019

Although we are heavily involved in the initial stages of our clients development projects (as that's what we specialise in - the hard work of the consenting process!), we don't always get to see the final finished product.

So, it was nice to be able to attend the Waihi Beach Hotel to see the Drax Project perform live in a one off concert there back on the 5th January 2019!

Michelle was enlisted to help the Waihi Beach Hotel in obtaining resource consent to host this event. The time-frame for this project was challenging, as was the issue of noise and traffic generated by the event, but Michelle worked tirelessly dealing with Council to ensure that this consent was delivered on time for the Hotel to host this concert.

The music was great, the turnout was amazing and we had a really enjoyable night!

15/02/2019

Element Planning was proud to sponsor the Western Bay of Plenty Year 6 Cricket Team in their recent trip to Hawkes Bay to participate in the annual Riverbend Cricket Tournament.

The boys did themselves and the Bay of Plenty proud by not only demonstrating great team work and dedication over 6 games of cricket in 4 (very hot!) days, but they also recorded 6 wins out of 6 playing some lovely, entertaining cricket along the way.

Well done team!

29/10/2018

Just over a year ago we moved our Planning Consultancy Element Planning to the very small town of Waihi Beach. Lots of naysayers told us we would lose our clients, that they wouldn’t want to work with a team so far away, and they questioned how we would deliver and maintain the quality of work.

This weekend we will be heading to the Waihi Beach - Katikati Business Excellence awards where we are FINALISTS in the category of Innovation. We haven’t lost our clients....instead we have grown our business by 168% in the last financial year.

So grateful to be living in an age where Technology provides the flexibility to live the life you choose.

28/04/2018

We made it! Last week we completed the Trig Challenge, climbing the Waihi Beach North End Trig 48 times in 60 days. That’s the equivalent of climbing EVEREST. The purpose was to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis and The total raised by the community came to $14,043! We love how this challenge really brought the community together. A great example of how a shared goal can create greater social connection. (Yes our 11 year old was not so happy that we made him come with us!)

01/03/2018

Here we are, up to run 8/48 as we take on the Waihi Beach Trig Challenge to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Bay of Plenty. The aim is to conquer this VERY steep track 48 times over 60 days - which is the equivalent height of Everest! Go Team ELEMENT PLANNING!

13/02/2018

It’s mid February already! Element Planning has had a busy start to 2018. So far this year...

- We are assisting two District Councils with Consents processing as well as a Regional Council too;

- Have consents currently lodged with 6 different District Councils across the North Island;

- Have a wide range of projects on our books from residential new builds to combined land use and subdivision consents, as well as retrospective consent applications for existing operations on sites.

- Potential new projects in the pipeline include work on the Coromandel Peninsula and also down in the Wairarapa for new build dwellings and associated buildings.

It’s going to be a busy few months ahead!

15/12/2017

Busy week on the run up to Christmas, but it was made a little easier doing site visits with views like this!

06/12/2017

A beautiful day to spend delivering some Christmas goodies to a few of our key clients. These beautiful platters are available from

31/10/2017

Over the last couple of months Michelle has been working in conjunction with Rocket Projects to design and deliver all of the Consenting RMA Changes at Waikato District Council. One week post-go-live and everything is running smoothly! Waikato DC have a great team of consenting staff all looking for efficiency and practical solutions in their processes.

01/09/2017

We are excited to announce that we are growing!

Michelle Carmine has now joined us as Director/Principal Consultant. Michelle comes to us with years of experience and knowledge from various leadership roles throughout the planning industry. She has a professional and pragmatic approach, just the way we like it around here!

Welcome to the team Michelle!

22/08/2017

Happy 3rd Birthday to us!

16/08/2017

Waipa District delivering the site visit views! Challenging site, but the setting makes it worth it.

30/05/2017

As of this afternoon, Element Planning Ltd has just secured its 100th project!

Let's hope the next 2 & a half years are equally as productive.

15/05/2017

As site visits go, this mornings views weren't half bad!

01/03/2017

Element Planning provided the planning input and assistance for this project and look forward to this new development becoming a focal point for the town, maximising peoples enjoyment and use of one of the towns prettiest locations.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/sport/89718072/club-heads-revamp-for-cambridges-victoria-square-cricket-pavillion-proposed

A $300,000 revamp to the home of Cambridge cricket is in the offing.

24/08/2016

This was posted on the Cambridge Grapevine page earlier and has opened up a lot of debate.

How would you like to see Cambridge grow?

What are your concerns regarding future town expansion?

Moving Cambridge from a town to a small city, but retaining that village feel, is going to be a mission.

02/06/2016

Element Planning has now dealt with 10 different local and regional authorities for its clients projects!

There is no local/regional authority that we can't successfully negotiate a resource consent through.

30/05/2016

Busy first five months to this year so far here at Element Planning. Particular highlights include:

- Obtaining consent for a retirement village in the Hauraki District for a client, after a challenging 18 month consenting process with council;

- The signing of a long term agreement to provide resource consenting assistance for a Hamilton based house builder;

- Lots of good Business Development achieved which is opening up potential avenues for work across NZ, with possible regular work in Northland, Auckland and Wellington.

Exciting times ahead!

12/01/2016

Its a new year and theres a new addition to the Element Planning web page. We've added a testimonial section so get on over and check it out.

We'll certainly be looking to add to this page with more glowing references from happy customers in 2016 - http://www.elementplanning.co.nz/testimonials.html

Some comments from our customers:

25/11/2015

Perk of the job! Not a bad view from this mornings site visit in Raglan, Waikato, NZ.