On 9 March 2026, the panel convener appointed the panel. The panel consists of:
Bal Matheson KC (Chair)
Bal Matheson KC is a barrister who has specialised in resource management, environmental, public works and local government law for over 27 years. Over that period, he has represented clients in hundreds of district and regional planning processes and resource consent hearings, including for large-scale infrastructure developments, urban redevelopment projects, greenfield developments, retirement villages, quarries and mines, industrial projects, renewable energy projects, airports, ports and landfills.
Bal is an accredited hearing commissioner and is a past Fast-track panel member. He is a member of the New Zealand Bar Association and the Resource Management Law Association. He was appointed King's Counsel in 2025.
Dr Ngaire Phillips
Dr Ngaire Phillips is an experienced and accredited independent commissioner (with Chair endorsement) under the RMA. In addition to membership on hearing panels, she was a member of a 5-person special tribunal that considered a water conservation order for a Hawke's Bay river, and a freshwater commissioner (for MfE). Between 2015 and 2024, she was also an appointed member of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Committee (for EPA).
Dr Phillips has worked in the field of environmental science for more than 30 years. She has specialist expertise in environmental (eco) toxicology, aquatic ecology (marine and freshwater) and water quality, as well as considerable knowledge of a broader range of resource management issues associated with land-use activities. She is also a Director and aquatic ecology/ecotoxicology specialist of an environmental science consultancy, Streamlined Environmental Ltd, which formed in 2013.
Stephen Daysh
Stephen Daysh has extensive environmental consulting and management experience in New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific.
He has considerable experience working with clients in all fields of environmental planning, and in the management and co-ordination of multi-disciplinary professional service teams for major projects. His primary specialty is the project management of feasibility studies, environmental investigations and permitting processes for transport, energy and infrastructure facilities, and urban developments.
He is a certified Commissioner Chair under the Ministry for Environment 'Making Good Decisions' programme and regularly sits as a decision maker in this capacity. On behalf of MfE, Stephen has interviewed and certified several Presenters/Facilitators of the 'Making Good Decisions' programme seeking Chairs Endorsement.
Stephen is also a process and meeting facilitator with a focus on co-ordinating community-based option assessment processes for planning issues, often utilising multi-criteria evaluation methodologies.
Register of interests
The register records all relevant panel members' interests and is updated, when necessary, throughout the consenting process.