Resource management · Planning · Expert evidence · Fast-track

Senior expertise for complex resource consents.

We're a senior team of planners, scientists and kaupapa taiao specialists. For three decades we've worked across the spectrum of consent applications, hearings, Environment Court cases and now Fast-track proceedings.

If your project involves: public notification, contested hearings, ecological sensitivity, significant iwi interests or the FTAA — we can help you.

100+ resource consents
50+ Environment Court appearances
30 yrs at the science–policy interface

Start a conversation

Tell us about your project and we'll be in touch.
We work with and for councils, iwi, communities and project teams across Aotearoa
Department of Conservation Horizons Regional Council Ngāti Rangi Forest & Bird Manawa Energy
What we do

Where senior expertise counts

Our team is skilled at: complex consent applications, contested hearings, and significant resource management projects that will re-shape a place:

Complex and notified consents

We'll prepare robust applications from the simple through to the complex, but excel at the complex and contested ones.

Expert evidence and the Environment Court

Planning, ecology, effects management expert evidence, and statements of advice to Fast-track panels — with more than 50+ Environment Court appearances and counting.

Technical and ecological assessment

Technical review, effects assessment, effects management, and biodiversity offsetting — led by nationally-recognised experts in their fields.

Hearings, facilitation and review

Our team includes Independent Hearing Commissioners (chair endorsed), available for Fast-track panels, extended consent hearings, and mediation.

Track record

Nobody likes a skite. So we'll let our work do the talking.

100+Resource consent applications
50+Environment Court appearances
45+Peer-reviewed publications
30Years at the science–policy interface
Selected projects
Why The Catalyst Group?

Experience matters

You work directly with senior specialists — all of whom are experienced inside council spaces, hearings and the courts. That depth means sharper advice, less rework, and more robust evidence.

  • Senior-led from start to finish — the person you meet is the person who does the work.
  • Decades spent navigating council environments, hearings and the Environment Court.
  • Planning, ecology, policy and kaupapa taiao expertise under one roof.
  • Straight-up, evidence-based advice — including when it isn't what you hoped to hear.
  • Agency capacity support for Fast-track proceedings.
"Each time, I have found the team approachable, engaged, and eager to find solutions that work for us. I highly value the evidence-based approach they embrace — when blended with a creative outlook, nothing seems impossible."
Dr Danielle ShanahanChief Executive, Zealandia
Get in touch

Talk to us about your project.

Tell us what you're working on, and we'll give you a straight-up view of what's involved and how we can help.

Start a conversation
Call our senior planner — Mike on +64 22 102 3250