On 18 November 2021, the panel convener appointed the panel to decide the Beachlands Housing Development application. The panel consists of:

Daniel Minhinnick (Chair)

Daniel Minhinnick will chair the panel for the Beachlands Housing Development project.

Daniel is a lawyer with more than 15 years' experience practising in the resource management and environment area. He is a partner at Russell McVeagh and heads the firm's Environment, Planning and Natural Resources Group.

Daniel's practice specialises in resource management and environmental litigation, and providing advice to major development projects. He has assisted on a variety of projects including residential, retail, commercial and industrial, energy and infrastructure projects, mining and hazardous waste facilities.

Daniel has also been involved in multiple projects utilising the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-Track Consenting) Act 2020. He offers advice to a range of clients on district and regional planning matters and legislative reform, local government matters and Public Works Act issues.

Daniel co-authored two chapters in Environment and Resource Management Law (7^th Ed) and also the Minerals and Mining chapter of the Laws of New Zealand.

David Wren (member)

David Wren is a sole-practice town planning and resource management consultant based in Grey Lynn in Auckland, New Zealand. His clients include individuals and small businesses, local government, and companies. David has had 39 years' experience in planning and resource management and has operated his practice since 1997.

David Wren has worked extensively in the preparation of and changes to district plans and on parts of the Auckland Unitary Plan.

His work also involves the preparation of resource consent applications ranging from small residential projects to large and commercial projects and assisting clients with site selection and due diligence.

David is an accredited Resource Management hearing Commissioner and is a member of the Auckland Council commissioner pool.

For many years David has also been engaged as a senior lecturer in the Department of Property at the University of Auckland, where he teaches an introductory course on planning for property students.

Bill Kapea (member)

Haere mai kai au ki te pokopoko o routo

Ki te auteatea awhia kite totara nui kite tanga a tiki

Kaipara hiki piro Tapora whakarere wahine

ka ngunguru te po ka ngunguru te Ao.

William Kapea is known for taking traditional Māori knowledge and making it relevant and applicable in today’s world. For 30 years, since the enactment of the Resource Management Act, he has been integrating and disseminating te ao Māori into resource management decision making and practices.

As a consequence, he brings a well-balanced understanding of resource management matters, gained through experience and knowledge working with national, regional, and local government, crown research institutes, infrastructure providers, and private businesses over three decades.

While he has grown his knowledge and appreciation of this aspect of the RMA, his greatest learnings have come from working alongside his kaumatua in the taha wairua world of the mata kite. Where kaitiakitanga connects you to the spiritual realm of tupuna and taniwha, a world in which the “tika/intent” in tikanga is sacrosanct.

This was clearly evident, when he sat as the Māori commissioner on EPA’s first EEZ/TTR application, where the weight of iwi and hapū were placed firmly on his shoulders for six months. A pressure cooker process founded on karakia laid down on the very first day. This is the taha wairua world of Māori “anchored to the past geared to the future”.

Register of interests 

View the register of interests for the Beachlands Housing Development panel (PDF, 59KB)