Janette Campbell

LLB (Hons) – University of Auckland, 1995

LLM – University of Berkeley, California, 1999

Making Good Decisions Foundation course, 2020

Making Good Decisions Chairs course, 2020

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Additional credentials

Commonwealth Scholarship for study in India

Fulbright Scholarship

Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholarship

Ethel Benjamin Prize in Law

Spencer Mason Travelling Scholarship

Leadership New Zealand participant, 2011

Janette has specialised in all aspects of resource management law for over 25 years. Her depth of experience means she is highly regarded as one of New Zealand’s leading experts on the topic.

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Throughout this time Janette has represented clients in resource management matters in front of councils, parliamentary select committees, the Environment Court, District Court, High Court, and the Court of Appeal, as well as in mediations and direct negotiation. She has acted for both prosecuting agencies and for defendants in criminal prosecutions of environmental offending.

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Janette is known for her ability to cut through bureaucracy to get straight to the core of the matter. She is respected for her sound, strategic counsel and is adept at devising effective, sustainable solutions that mitigate the potential for conflict and litigation.

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She holds long-standing, respectful relationships with many of New Zealand’s preeminent experts who provide expert opinion on the natural environment, amenity matters, conservation management, and resource use.

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A qualified Independent Commissioner with a Chair’s endorsement, Janette is able to chair, sit on, and determine resource consent applications, or the content of planning documents, for councils.  She has also brought and defended a number of applications for judicial review, challenging the grant of resource consents without notice. This strengthens her decision making skills, knowing well what makes a defensible decision.  

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Janette is regularly sought after to speak at education seminars, including for members of the resource management community.

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Before joining Bankside Chambers, Janette was a partner at Meredith Connell, leading the Environment and Resource Management group for almost eight years. Prior to that Janette was a partner in boutique resource management firm Cowper Campbell.

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From 1999 to 2004, Janette was Director of the Environmental Defence Society.

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In September 2024 Janette was announced as Chair of an Expert Advisory Group set up by the Government, tasked with advising on one of the most significant public projects in a generation: transforming New Zealand’s resource management system.

Recent highlights include:

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Adams Sawmilling

Acted as a hearing commissioner for Environment Canterbury, hearing a resource consent application for stormwater discharges from a timber treatment site, with submitters concerned about water quality in their down gradient drinking water bores. 

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Higgins Asphalt Plant

Securing an air discharge permit for an asphalt plant in a polluted airshed through a contested application process.

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Stellan Trust v Auckland Council

Sought judicial review of the Council’s non-notification of a subdivision consent for a neighbouring landowner who would be deprived of road access by a “spite strip”. 

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Friends of Pākiri Beach v Auckland Council

Acted for Friends of Pakiri Beach opposing continued sandmining at Pākiri. Awaiting substantive decision, but interim decisions resulted in the cessation of inshore sand mining in exchange for a short term offshore consent.

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Laminex Redevelopment

Obtained non-notified changes to existing resource consents as well as new consents to authorise a $230 million new Oriented Strand Board Plant at the Taupo Laminex site.

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Summerset Waikanae Retirement Village

Chaired the Expert Consenting Panel appointed to hear and determine the application for a retirement village on a large site with existing native vegetation, wetlands and native fauna, requiring substantial earthworks. Consents were granted, subject to a comprehensive and stringent set of conditions.

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Cossens v Queenstown Lakes District Council

Acted for Queenstown Lakes District Council in a judicial review seeking to challenge the Council's processing of a resource consent and the formulation of its District Plan. The proceedings were discontinued after the first morning in Court.

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Queenstown Arterials Project

Obtained COVID-19 ‘fast track’ designation and consents for Queenstown Lakes District Council via the Environmental Protection Authority. These permissions allow the construction of a new town bypass, enabling the creation of a public transport hub and improved pedestrian amenity for residents and visitors.