On 28 April 2026, the panel convener appointed the expert panel with a commencement date of 5 May 2026. The panel consists of:
Amanda Dewar (Chair)
Amanda has been involved in environmental law and planning for over 40 years, including working for the Christchurch City Council, a private planning consultancy in a planning capacity, and a national law firm, where she led the resource management team for over 25 years.
This broad background enables her to take a pragmatic and strategic approach to giving legal advice and provides a strong background of experience for Commissioner roles. She has extensive experience with a wide range of statutory RMA processes including the consenting of large and complex projects.
Amanda is a member of the Resource Management Law Association. She is an accredited hearing commissioner with chair endorsement and has chaired a panel under the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020.
Liz Burge
Liz is a resource management professional with nearly 30 years’ experience across public- and private-sector planning in Aotearoa. She has been an accredited Independent Commissioner since 2009 and holds a Chair endorsement. She is also a Freshwater Commissioner and holds a Bachelor of Resource Studies, with a focus on Māori Environmental Management (Lincoln University). Liz has chaired and sat on hearings for district and regional plan reviews, plan changes, and resource consent applications. She also advises clients on consenting strategy and delivery for complex development and infrastructure proposals. Liz has collaborated closely with iwi to progress development initiatives and implement strategies that support their environmental aspirations. She also played an active and constructive role in the Rangitāne o Wairarapa Treaty settlement process.
Rob Van Voorthuysen
Rob has acted as an independent RMA hearing commissioner on over 470 occasions on regional policy statements, regional plans, district plans, notices of requirement and consent applications. He initially trained as an engineer, specialising in water and soil and coastal management, and later gained a Master of Public Policy. Commencing work for the former Ministry of Works, he moved into policy, planning and management roles for the Department of Conservation and the Waikato and Hawke’s Bay regional councils before commencing practice as a consultant in 1998. In 2023 Rob was the decision-maker on Energy Bay Limited’s solar farm application at Mangamaire, near Pahiatua. Rob was an expert panel member on five COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 consents. He was recently on the FTAA expert panels for Oceania Gold’s application for the Waihi North gold mine project and Contact Energy’s Southland Windfarm. He is currently on the FTAA expert panel for NZTA’s SH1 Woodend to Pegasus Bypass.
Register of interests
The register records all relevant panel members' interests, and is updated, when necessary, throughout the consenting process.