On 23 September 2021 the panel was appointed. The panel consists of:

Judge Laurie Newhook (Chair)

Judge Laurie Newhook was head of the New Zealand Environment Court from August 2011 until his retirement in July 2020, and a Judge of the Court from 2001.

Prior to that he was counsel and had over thirty years of advocacy experience to that point, with particular emphasis on environmental matters, land, property, and maritime laws.

Judge Newhook has presented at many national and international conferences on the themes of environmental adjudication and the use of technology in adjudicative settings and has written multiple papers on the subjects.

Judge Newhook has hosted international delegations to his Court from many parts of the World; chaired and presented at the ‘International Forum for Environment Judges’, Oslo, Norway, June 2016; and Auckland, April 2017, and chaired and addressed plenary sessions at IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquia and other international conferences.

Russell Howie (Member)

Russell was appointed an Environment Commissioner in July 2001 and was re-appointed in June 2013 for a further 5-year term. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Canterbury University, and is a Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers.

He has been an Independent Commissioner under the RMA on many occasions for the Wellington Regional Council and for the Wellington, Porirua, Hutt and Upper Hutt City Councils. He was the Environmental Manager for the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand and before that he was the Deputy Director of Water and Soil Conservation for the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority.

He has been involved in the design and construction of highways, dams, irrigation schemes, flood control schemes and drainage schemes and in the allocation of water resources. He is a past president of the New Zealand Society of Large Dams and was recently the Project Manager for the Strengthening of the Matahina Dam.

In 2019, Russell was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to environmental resource management. Russell has completed the LEADR mediation workshop.

Gary Rae (Member)

Gary is a planner with 36 years of resource management experience in central and national government roles, including with Wellington City Council, Christchurch City Council, and the former Transit New Zealand in Christchurch. Gary has been a director of Incite, a nationwide environmental and resource management consultancy firm. Gary is Member of the NZ Planning Institute and is a former Board member of the NZPI.

Gary is an accredited independent hearings commissioner (chairing endorsement) with 18 years of experience. Recent commissioner appointments have included the Special Housing Area development at Shelly Bay in Wellington, and the current Selwyn District Council Plan Review.

In Dunedin, Gary was deputy chair of the Dunedin City District Plan Review hearing panel and was commissioner for several other local projects including the Dunedin Central Bus Hub, and the application for demolition of the historic facades of the Cadbury Buildings on the site of the proposed Dunedin Hospital.

Hoani Langsbury (Member)

Ngāi Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Waitaha, Kati Hawea

Hoani has been an independent iwi commissioner for over 10 years and has reaccredited the RMA Making Good Decisions Programme in 2012 and 2017. He is an ecologist with a background in environmental management and is the senior Ecological Consultant for Ngai House Consulting, a small business he operates with his wife based at Otakou.

He is active member of the Otago Conservation community, with a diverse skill set and responsibilities, such as the Chair of the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Trust, and a founding trustee for Wild Dunedin Festival and Predator Free Dunedin.

Register of interests

The register records all relevant panel members' interests and is updated when necessary throughout the consenting process. 

Register of interests for new Dunedin Hospital application updated on 28 September 2021 (PDF, 56KB)