Expert Consenting Panel
Information about the panel appointed to consider and decide the Rangitane Maritime development application.
On 18 October 2021, the panel convener appointed the panel to decide the application. The panel consists of:
Mary Hill (chair)
Mary is a Partner at Tauranga law firm Cooney Lees Morgan. She advises local authorities and private clients on all aspects of resource management law and works closely with councils on a range of policy, strategic and probity issues. Mary appears regularly in the Environment Court and higher courts.
She is the External Designated Protected Disclosures Officer for Hamilton City Council and acts as an independent facilitator of community disputes. She also has expertise in competition, regulatory and information law and holds a Masters in Commercial Law specialising in those areas.
Mary is the immediate past President of the Resource Management Law Association and sits on the board of the NZ College of Law’s Mentoring Programme.
Juliane Chetham (member)
Patuharakeke/Ngātiwai me Ngāti Whatua me Ngapuhi.
Juliane is an independent consultant with a background in geography and marine science. She has 20 years' experience in resource management planning and policy, specialising in Treaty of Waitangi and kaupapa Māori matters.
Juliane has held research, consultation and advisory roles for a range of industry, local and central government, iwi/hapū authorities and community organisations. She has held trustee positions on the Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board, and is responsible for the Trust’s environmental portfolio.
Prior to that, she managed the Resource Management Unit of the Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust (Environs Holdings Ltd). For the past six years she has held Making Good Decisions certification and been a member of Auckland Council’s Independent Hearing Commissioner Pool. Juliane has been contracted to Queenstown Lakes District Council and Whangarei District Council serving on a variety of resource consent, plan change and notice of requirement hearings.
William (Bill) Smith (member)
For the past 14 years Bill has been employed as an Independent Hearings Commissioner and has worked for a number of Councils (Auckland Regional, Rodney District, Auckland, Northland Regional, Far North District, Kaipara District and Whangarei District Councils) to sit as either a Chair or a Member on resource consents and plan changes (also private plan changes) panels and has also sat and dealt with objections to conditions and costs.
Bill has the relevant legal and planning experience regarding hearings and has studied and implemented the relevant legislation to undertake his work and also gain the Ministry for Environment endorsement. Bill is experienced with other Local Authority legislation. Prior to October 2007 he was a Councillor at Rodney District Council, and Deputy Mayor for two years. Bill was the Chairman of the Council’s Regulatory Committee and was also a member of the Council’s Resource Consents hearings panel.
In 2004 Bill was appointed a Justice of the Peace, in 2005 he completed the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand (TOPNZ) course for the Certificate in Judicial Studies and for 8 years sat (voluntary) in the Auckland District Courts. He served as a Lay Member on the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal from 2008 to 2020.
Bill worked for the Rodney District Council for 20 years in a variety of roles, all of which involved dealing with people and interpreting legislation. Prior roles as a Police Officer, Administration Manager, Returning/Electoral Officer, Privacy Officer, Officer who dealt with Ombudsman Complaints/Enquiries, Councillor and Chairman of the Regulatory Committee and JP stand Bill in good stead in his present role as an Independent Hearings Commissioner.
Register of interest
The register records all relevant panel member's interests and is updated when necessary throughout the consenting process.