On 4 September 2026, the panel convener appointed the expert panel. The panel consists of:
Claire Kirkman (chair)
Claire is a highly experienced resource management lawyer with over 25 years in the field. From 2020 to early 2026 Claire was Special Counsel at Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, advising on the authorisation of small through to large scale urban development and infrastructure projects for the government social housing provider.
Prior to working for government, Claire was a partner in private practice representing both government and corporate clients in the Environment and Higher Courts. During this time Claire represented the Minister for the Environment and Housing New Zealand Corporation in a total of 49 panel hearings over a 21-month period in relation to the Auckland Unitary Plan, along with 2 Court of Appeal proceedings, 24 High Court judicial reviews/appeals, and 19 Environment Court appeals.
For over 20 years, Claire has been the co-author of the chapter on environmental litigation and dispute resolution for Lexis Nexis (with Justice Whata), and for over a decade has also been on the editorial board for the Resource Management Law Journal. She was appointed by the Minister to report to the Select Committee on the systems efficiency of resource management reform (2022-2023), and as a member of the Technical Advisory Panel for the development of the National Policy Statement – Urban Development (2019-2020).
Claire has Honours degrees from Auckland University in Accounting and Finance and Law, and a PhD in Corporate Environmental Reporting from the University of Dundee, Scotland. She has also taught at Auckland University’s Business School in both Financial Reporting and Management Accounting. Recently Claire has completed level 3 Tikanga Māori at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and level 5 Te Reo Māori qualifications at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Claire is a certified resource management independent hearings commissioner.
Matt Lindenberg (member)
Matt is a planner with over nineteen years' experience in both the private sector and local authority environments. During that time Matt's mahi has focused primarily on strategic and policy planning processes across New Zealand's urban environments.
This includes the provision of planning support to Housing New Zealand Corporation and HLC (now Kāinga Ora) along with a number of other clients through the Auckland Unitary Plan submissions, hearings and appeals process, as well as NPS-UD implementation processes through full District Plan Reviews and various Plan Changes in Northland, Waikato, the Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Marlborough, and Canterbury.
Matt is an accredited commissioner for RMA hearing panels under the Ministry for the Environment's 'Making Good Decisions' programme.
Ian Munro (member)
Ian Munro is a senior, self-employed urban designer, planner and independent decision maker. He has approximately 25 years' experience and has worked on over 3,000 projects across the country for councils, developers, submitters, and other community groups.
Ian has a Bachelor of Planning and Masters Degrees in Planning, Architecture [Urban Design], Environmental Legal Studies, and Engineering Studies [Transportation]. His projects span urban growth, subdivision, transport and corridor planning, and land use planning. Ian is a Full Member of the New Zealand Planning Institute and a Registered Urban Designer with the Urban Designers Institute Aotearoa.
Ian currently teaches urban design theory and practice as part of the University of Auckland's Master of Urban Design degree, and has co-presented the New Zealand Planning Institute's Urban Design for Planners CPD course for over 15-years.
Register of interests
The register records all relevant panel members' interests. It is updated, when necessary, throughout the consenting process.