The planning and environment specialists bring over two decades of experience
Cooney Lees Morgan (CLM) has bolstered its partnership with the addition of planning and environment specialists Rachael Zame and Kate Stubbing.
They step into their new roles as the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill are set to come into force this year, replacing the current resource management framework. Zame and Stubbing bring over two decades of experience, both local and overseas.
Zame has been with CLM for over 17 years. She has tackled issues involving plan development, plan changes, resource consent applications, designations and enforcement concerns when planning provisions and consents are not met.
She has handled matters related to subdivision and development, coastal processes and natural hazards, freshwater, consultation and engagement, local authority elections, privacy and information issues, liquor licensing, Health Act provisions, and judicial review and declaration proceedings. She has appeared before the Environment Court and High Court on appeals and has also been involved in mediations and alternative dispute resolution.
Zame’s clients have included local authorities, infrastructure providers, developers, businesses and individuals. She has a particular interest in climate change, sustainability and three waters infrastructure.
She represented council clients on appeals against abatement notices and enforcement orders, including those related to complex forestry harvesting issues. She also acted for private clients and councils on designation and consenting matters, including housing and industrial developments, harbour dredging, highly productive land issues, water takes and discharges.
Zame sits on the Law Society’s climate change subcommittee and the Australasian Land and Groundwater Association’s Bay of Plenty branch. Before joining CLM as a resource management and local government solicitor in 2009, she logged stints with Mishcon de Reya in London and Chapman Tripp according to LinkedIn.
Stubbing commenced with CLM in 2021 as a senior associate. She has worked on plan changes, fast-track processes, large-scale projects and infrastructure, resource consent applications, and planning disputes.
Her clients have included local authorities, developers and private clients. She represented the Western Bay of Plenty District Council on Plan Change 92; moreover, she acted for the respondent in an Environment Court appeal involving a notice of requirement/designation for an active reserve, resolving the appeal.
Stubbing appeared before the Land Valuation Tribunal on a Ratings Valuations-related Act objection and conducted a legal review of a Future Development Strategy draft. She also made presentations to committees regarding the Resource Management Amendment (Consenting and Other Matters) Bill and the Fast-track Approvals Bill.
She is the Resource Management Law Association’s national committee secretary and is on the Bay of Plenty branch committee. Prior to joining CLM, she was with Simpson Grierson.
“This is an important time for resource management, including local government and water services, with significant legislative change ahead. We’re well placed to support clients navigating that transition”, Stubbing said.
She added that making partner had been a long-term goal for her.
Zame, who described her appointment as a meaningful personal milestone, highlighted the increasing complexity of environmental and planning law.
“We are at a crossroads in resource management law. Clients will need legal support to navigate the new system, particularly as regions transition into new planning frameworks, which is likely to occur at pace”, she said. “We’re seeing much more work at the intersection of regulation, climate risk and emergency response. Clients want advisors who understand both the legal framework and the real-world context they’re operating in”.
