What should you do if you get an infringement notice?
You can be sure are going to have to part with some money if you
receive something from the Council entitled "Infringement
Notice issued under s343C of the Resource Management Act
1991". But fear not, things could be a lot worse.
If you receive one of these notices, it means the Council thinks
there has been some non-compliance for which you could have been
prosecuted under the Resource Management Act 1991, convicted and
fined tens of thousands of dollars. This could range from ponding
of dairy effluent to allowing stock to access rivers in breach of a
rule in a Council plan. The notice is definitely the lesser of two
evils, but you should not ride your luck because, unless you take
the right action quickly, you could well still end up with a
conviction and a much higher fine to boot.
