On 14 September 2026, the panel convener appointed the expert panel. The panel consists of:
Honourable Raynor Asher KC (Chair)
Raynor Asher graduated BA, LLB (Hons) from the Auckland Law School in 1972. He was a Senior Scholar in Law. He was also the New Zealand Harkness Fellow to the United States in 1973 to 1974 and graduated with a Master of Laws from the University of California (Berkeley) in 1974.
Raynor was a partner at Kensington Haynes & White (later Kensington Swan and now Dentons) from 1976 to 1986, and in 1986 commenced practice as a barrister sole. In 1992 he was appointed as Queen's Counsel.
From 1996 to 1998 he was President of the New Zealand Bar Association, and then President of the Auckland District Law Society from 2002 to 2003. He was Vice President of the New Zealand Law Society from 2003 to 2005.
He was appointed to the High Court Bench in 2005 and to the Court of Appeal in 2016. He has been President of the Legal Research Foundation, Chair of the Rules Committee and Chair of the Media and Courts Committee. He retired in March 2019, and resumed practice at the Bar as an arbitrator and mediator.
He has been Chair of the New Zealand Media Council since 2019, and is a member of the Courts of Appeal of Vanuatu, Cook Islands, and Samoa.
Dr Matt Baber
Matt Baber brings over 25 years of national and international experience as an ecologist, spanning academia, local government, and consultancy.
A certified RMA hearings panel commissioner since 2018, he has acted as lead ecologist or lead peer-review ecologist on plan changes, resource consents, and Fast-track applications for applicants, regulators, and submitters alike. His work covers a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, mining, renewable energy, and land development.
Matt specialises in assessments of ecological effects and the development and implementation of ecological management plans, including biodiversity offsetting and compensation and outcome monitoring.
He is the Director and founder of Alliance Ecology Ltd (established in 2019). Prior to this, he held senior leadership roles at Tonkin & Taylor Ltd between 2011 and 2019, including Group Manager, Technical Director, and Project Director.
Matthew McCallum-Clark
Matthew McCallum-Clark is a resource management planner with over 30 years’ of experience across a range consenting and policy processes. With a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Economics), his focus has been on the management of natural resources and infrastructure. He has been engaged by a wide range of central government, local authority, and private clients to assist with policy projects and development projects throughout New Zealand.
Matthew is an experienced expert witness and is a certified independent RMA decision-maker who has chaired or sat on panels for resource consent applications across the South Island.
Stephen Brown
Stephen Brown has practised as a landscape architect for 44 years. During that period, he has specialised in landscape assessment and planning, and has been involved in projects ranging from the evaluation of the Channel Tunnel Rail options in the UK, to the Waterview Connection Project in Auckland, and current proposals for a cable car system in Queenstown. He has had long-standing involvement with the development of Northport at Marsden Point, and has assessed the effects of 16 wind farm projects, including three in Australia. Over the last three years, he has assisted Auckland Council with Plan Changes 78 and 120, which address residential intensification across the city’s metropolitan area. Other projects that Stephen has been involved with include:
Port of Tauranga Berthage Expansion (2019-25)
Te Rere Hau Wind Farm Repowering and Aokautere Extension Projects (2018 to 2025)
Kennedy Point Marina Application (2017)
East West Link Review (2016 to 2017)
Northern Corridor Improvements Review (2017)
MV Rena Shipwreck Assessment (2015)
Hagley Park Cricket Oval Application (2013)
Waterview Connection Project: SH16 and SH20 (2009 to 2012)
Eden Park Rugby World Cup 2011 (2006 to 2010)
Long Bay Structure Planning (1998 to 2005)
Sky Tower Assessment (1991)
Development of Concepts for the Viaduct Basin, and input to its special zone (1989 to 1994)
Site Selection Studies for PWR Stations at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa – North Wales (1984 to 1986)
Channel Tunnel Railway Connections Study (1986).
Stephen has participated in strategic landscape and natural character assessments for a range of territorial authorities, including the Far North, Whangarei, Otorohanga and Wairoa Districts, the Auckland and Waikato Regional Councils, and the combined (regional and district) councils of the West Coast of the South Island. He has appeared in the Environment Court on a regular basis since 1989.
Register of interests
The register records all relevant panel members' interests. It is updated, when necessary, throughout the consenting process.