Bianca Tree > MinterEllisonRuddWatts > Auckland, New Zealand > Lawyer Profile

MinterEllisonRuddWatts
PWC TOWER, 15 CUSTOMS STREET WEST
PO BOX 105 249
AUCKLAND 1143
New Zealand

Work Department

Environment, planning and resource management

Position

Partner

Career

Bianca is head of the firm’s Property and Environment division and a resource management and environmental law specialist.

She provides advice to both public and private sector entities on all aspects of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and related legislation.

Bianca is experienced in a broad range of development projects and environmental issues, including in the retail, commercial, industrial, infrastructure, aquaculture, forestry, agriculture, and energy sectors.

Bianca routinely advises and prepares submissions on district and regional plans. She has enabled numerous clients to achieve an uplift in zoning or area-specific precinct controls to support development. Experienced in the related fields of the Public Works Act and the Local Government Act, Bianca can help with public acquisition, development contributions, and private development agreements. She provides clients with valuable continuity between Notice of Requirement and acquisition processes on significant infrastructure projects.

Clients also seek Bianca’s assistance with undertaking environmental due diligence. Her expertise in this area includes advising on the Overseas Investment Act (OIA), contaminated land liability, and drafting environmental warranties and indemnities.

Skilled at dispute resolution, Bianca regularly appears in complex cases before the Environment Court, High Court and Boards of Inquiry. She also represents clients at mediation.

Memberships

Member, Resource Management Law Association of New Zealand (RMLA)

Education

LLB, University of Otago

BSc, University of Otago

Lawyer Rankings

New Zealand > Projects and resources management (including environment)

MinterEllisonRuddWatts draws considerable praise from clients, who turn to the team for its ‘very good knowledge, expertise and experience’ on the full spectrum of environmental and planning issues. The team acts for central and local government bodies, blue-chip principals and developers on large-scale and complex projects and disputes. Sarah Sinclair leads the infrastructure practice at the firm and is noted for her extensive experience acting for both government and private sector clients in matters involving large-scale, complex infrastructure. Bianca Tree heads the property and environment division and is recommended for her resource management and environmental law specialism. Specialist procurement and transactional construction practitioner Travis Tomlinson is routinely engaged by public and private sector clients on a host of complex and large-scale projects. Rachel Devine departed to private practice in July 2022.