The issue I eluded to in the KB dates thread was our resource consent application.
Once we submit our application there are 3 ways the council can choose to process it.
Non-notified - The council assesses our application and does not share it with anyone.
Limited notified - Our application will be shared with potentially affected parties (neighbours etc) and they can make submissions/appeals against the application.
Fully notified - Our application will be put in the newspaper (I think its still the newspaper but may be online? Shared publicly somehow) and anyone can make a submission/appeal against it.
I have been informed that its very likely that our application will be limited notified or fully notified. This will mean that the application process could take a very long time as limited and fully notified application processes can be dragged out by other parties. Other parties are given 15 working days to lodge an appeal against the consent application however the council cannot make a decision about the application until the appeals are 'completed' - there is no time limit to this part of the process. I have also been informed that there are interested parties who intend to slow our application down as much as they can. I have been told that this can potentially take many many months.
If our application is limited or fully notified I think it would be extremely risky for us to plan the festival and assume that our resource consent will be granted in time to hold the festival.
All this being said we haven't submitted our application yet so we don't officially know what sort of notification process we will have. I am hoping to have the application submitted in the next couple of weeks so hopefully we will know what notification process it will be by the summit.