Meet the hearings panel

Commissioner Conflicts and Interests

View the commissioners' listed conflicts and interests relating to the Proposed District Plan. (210KB PDF)

Trevor Robinson, Chair

Commissioner Robinson has worked extensively as an environmental lawyer from the early 1990s, initially as a partner at Buddle Findlay, and since 2004 as a barrister.

Commissioner Robinson has considerable hearings experience and is an experienced chair.

After living and working in Wellington for 33 years, he relocated to Hawke’s Bay in 2022.

Robert Schofield, Deputy Chair

Commissioner Schofield has worked in planning since 1983, primarily as a consultant in Wellington City.

Commissioner Schofield has worked as a RMA hearings commissioner since 2003 and as a chair since 2013. He has experience with plan change, resource consent and notice of requirement hearings. He has particular expertise in consenting, including for large scale infrastructure projects, as well as District Plan preparation and reviews.

Heike Lutz

Commissioner Lutz has over 30 years’ of experience in the architectural and building conservation field in Europe and New Zealand.

Commissioner Lutz has worked as a hearings commissioner for more than 15 years. She has experience relating to architecture, built heritage, cultural heritage including tikanga and te ao Māori, urban design, and environmental sustainability and protection.

Liz Burge

Commissioner Burge has experience in policy and plan development, urban and rural subdivision and land use, Māori consultation and environmental management.

Commissioner Burge has sat as a commissioner on a range of hearings, including whole plan development, plan changes, individual resource consent hearings and prehearing facilitation.

Lindsay Daysh

Commissioner Daysh is Director of Incite Wellington and has some 30 years’ experience in all aspects of resource management planning. He has been involved in multi-disciplinary projects and has strong and wide-ranging general planning experience in policy development.

Commissioner Daysh is an experienced commissioner with chair accreditation and has sat on many consent applications and district plan matters.

Jane Black

Commissioner Black has 30 years’ experience in urban planning and design, predominantly at local government level.

Commissioner Black has undertaken urban design review of applications for resource consent for local authorities and private clients. She is on a number of design review panels and had an ongoing involvement in the Wellington Waterfront project for 20 years in a range of roles and was on the Technical Advisory Group before being a Director to the Board of Wellington Waterfront Limited.

Rawiri Faulkner

Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Huia, Ngai Te Rangi

Commissioner Faulkner has 20 years’ of senior executive and governance experience. He is co-director of Tū Taiao Limited which specialises in project and relationship management, planning, policy, strategy, and facilitation.

Commissioner Faulkner has experience sitting on both resource consent and plan change hearings. He has served on a number of science review panels, government reviews and is an experienced Te Ao Māori practitioner.

David McMahon

Commissioner McMahon has 30 years’ experience in urban and environmental planning, representing both public and private interests. He is a founding director of RMG, established in 2001.

Commissioner McMahan relocated to Wellington following the Christchurch earthquakes. His work in recent years has been heavily geared towards commissioner appointments at local council and EPA boards of inquiry level, many of the former relate to plan and plan change reviews.