26 March 2020

Glen Johnson
63 Churchill Road
Judea
Tauranga, 3110

Dear Glen,

RE: COMPLAINT REGARDING VIBRATION

Our previous correspondence regarding the construction earthworks at 59 Churchill Road
refers.
Your complaint relates to vibration at your residence due to earthworks at a neighbouring
property. You provided photos and video footage related to the earthworks being undertaken.
Consequently, on 21 February 2020, we conducted a site visit to assess the earthworks and
potential effects. Several cracks in your driveway were observed. Unfortunately, these
appeared to be historic. It is uncertain when or how these cracks occurred.
As discussed, neither the City Plan nor the relevant Resource Consent prescribed standards
by which vibration related to earthworks at this site was to be managed. The question then
posed was why the issue of vibration was not considered during the consenting process and
why you were not consulted as part of the consenting process.
I referred this aspect to Dylan Makgill, Team Leader: Environmental Planning, who advised
as follows:
Consent was required and issued for the earthworks component of this proposal. The City Plan
provides policy direction around the matters that a Planning assessment should take into
account for earthworks. In this case the City Plan requires specific consideration of erosions
and sedimentation effects, a geotechnically stable site, and character and amenity effects on
the adjoining ecological and conservation zone. I have attached the Planner’s report which
assessed the relevant City Plan matters and recommended non-notification for the proposal
(section 7 specifically addresses those matters).
While the City Plan does not provide specific direction around vibration associated with
constructions works (in this case earthworks) this is a matter which can potentially be
addressed through the conditions of consent if it was anticipated to be a significant
effect. Generally, with a proposal of this scale (reasonably small) vibration is not an effect that
is expected to be so significant that it requires a specific mitigation. The applicant did confirm
that they would meet the construction noise standards of the City Plan however as you are
probably now well aware this does not include a vibration limit.

Tauranga City Council Private Bag 12022, Tauranga 3143, New Zealand

+64 7 577 7000

info@tauranga.govt.nz

www.tauranga.govt.nz

 In a case such as this the RMA does provide Compliance tools which allow Council to address
effects which were not anticipated to be significant at application stage.

Please find attached hereto the Planner’s Report referred to above.
Following our site visit, we met with the developer to determine whether measures to mitigate
the effects of the vibration could be implemented. The developer employed the following
mitigations:
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Used a lighter 3 tonne digger rather than 12 tonne and 20 tonne diggers;
Avoided earthworks over weekends;
Recent earthworks were being performed on top of a clay base, which would absorb
some of the vibration;
Used a wheeled loader rather than tracked machinery to spread pre-load material
around the site, as the tracked machinery caused a lot of the vibration;
Ensured that the machinery maintained a 6m setback from the property boundary.

The major works were also scheduled to be completed by 09 March 2020.
Amidst these enforcement constraints, we sought legal advice to determine whether we may
be afforded any enforcement options under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).
Whilst we may potentially take enforcement under Section 16 of the RMA, such enforcement
still requires a reasonable standard of proof against which to measure the effects of vibration,
such as the German standard (DIN 4150-3:1999 Structural vibration – Effects of vibration on
structures).
Given the fact that the works are largely complete, the lack of evidence from which to conclude
that the cracks were caused by vibration alone, and the lack of vibration measurements, we
are currently unable to take enforcement action against the developer.
Should you experience any further vibration effects, please alert us to this immediately. This
will enable an Environmental Monitoring Officer to attend the site as and when it is occurring
in order to conduct a preliminary assessment.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any further queries.
Yours sincerely

Peter Smith
Team Leader: Environmental Monitoring
07 577 7200
peter.smith@tauranga.govt.nz

TCC Letter - Glen Johnson - 26 March 2020

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