“Access leg” is legally part of an individual property, soley for the use of that property, providing legal road frontage.  It is not shared and generally used to access rear properties.

“Access lot” means a lot which is jointly owned and provides legal access to more than one lot.

"Accessory Building" is one which is incidental to any permitted activity. "Building Accessory" shall have a corresponding meaning.

“Accessway” means any passage way, laid out or constructed by the authority of the council or the Minister of Works and Development (or, on or after the 1st day of April 1988, the Minister of Lands) for the purposes of providing the public with a convenient route for pedestrians from any road, service lane, or reserve to another, or to any public place or to any railway station, or from one public place to another public place, or from one part of any road, service lane, or reserve to another part of that same road, service lane, or reserve.

"Accommodation Facilities" means any form of residential accommodation which does not comply with the definition of dwelling or dependent persons dwelling and includes boarding houses, hotels, hostels, motels, camping grounds, retirement villages and rest homes for the rehabilitation and care of any group.

"Act" means the Resource Management Act 1991 and Amendments.

“Advertising Sign” means any name, figure, character, outline, display, notice, placard, delineation, poster, handbill, advertising device or appliance or any other thing of a similar nature intended to attract attention for the purpose of directing, identifying, informing or advertising, and includes all parts, portions, units and materials composing the same, together with the frame, background or structure and support or anchorage thereof, and shall also include any of the foregoing things when displayed on a stationary vehicle, but shall exclude official signs and advertising matter placed on or within a shop display window.

"Air Noise Boundary" is the survey precise boundary of an area which, and only in which, the daily average night-weighted sound exposure from aircraft, over any three month period, is permitted to exceed 65Ldn. Within this area strict land use controls are required and all noise operations must be so controlled that the daily average sound exposure at or anywhere outside the air noise boundary does not exceed 65Ldn.

“Airport Protection Area” means that land within the District identified on Planning Maps number 11, 12, 14 and 31 and Appendix 6.

“Berm” means the area between the road boundary and the road carriageway of a formed road.

"Building" shall have the same meaning as that defined in Section 3 of the Building Act 1991 and means any building or structure or part of a building or structure requiring a Building Consent as defined by that Act. For the avoidance of doubt, in addition to its ordinary and usual meaning, the term “building” shall include the following:

1. Any retaining wall or breastwork exceeding 1.5m in height;
2. Any fence or wall exceeding 2.0m in height;
3. Any pool or tank more than 1.0m in height above ground level or immediately below, (including a detention tank, swimming pool, spa pool, swirl pool, plunge pool and hot tub);
4. Any vehicle, caravan or structure whether movable or immovable used as a place of permanent residence or business or for assembly or storage purposes;
5. Any mast, pole or radio or television aerial which exceeds 7m in height above the point of attachment or its base support;
6. Any permanent tent or marquee or air supported canopy;
7. Any part of a deck, or terrace, platform or bridge which is more than 1m above ground level; but does not include any fence or wall.

The Third Schedule of the Building Act 1991, defines Exempt Buildings and Building Work. For the avoidance of doubt, excluded from the definition of “Building” shall be any detached building or structure 10m2 or less in area which does not exceed one storey, and does not contain sleeping accommodation or sanitary facilities for the storage of potable water located closer than its own height to any legal boundary or any residential accommodation. For requirements regarding buildings not requiring building consent see Section 4.6.