This online seminar is designed to be a practical guide to preparing and presenting evidence at the Environment Court. It will address what it means to be an expert witness, primarily focusing on planning experts however the seminar is of value to all expert witnesses.

It will include commentary on practices designed to assist the Court to determine technical issues where experts offer conflicting opinions. This will include the fairly standard practice of requiring technical witnesses to attend expert conferencing and produce an agreed statement of facts and/or joint statements of evidence.

The seminar also provides guidance on how to conduct one’s self under cross-examination.

The facilitator is joined by a senior RMA lawyer and a Judge of the environment Court for the Presentation, providing insights on what is expected from the expert witness form their perspective. The presentations are interspersed with a mixture of short tests, mock court/role play, and review of exemplars to reinforce the course content. There may be some preparatory work prior to the course for attendees.

Presented by:

    • Dave Serjeant

      Dave is an environmental planner and independent hearings commissioner with a nationwide practice in plan making and large, complex projects. Dave’s experience spans a wide range of environments, from inner urban Auckland to the outstanding landscapes of Central Otago, and from landfill operations to marinas. His clients include corporate entities, Councils and non-governmental environmental organisations. He has frequent appearances before the Environment Court as an expert planning witness and related involvement in mediations and expert conferencing.

      Dave holds the qualifications of Bachelor of Town Planning from Auckland University (1979) and Master in Business Studies (Economics) from Massey University (1985). He is a full member of the New Zealand Planning Institute and a member of the Resource Management Law Association, with 40 years professional experience.


    Registration is easy! Simply click the ‘Add to Cart’ button above and follow the prompts.

    Hope you can join us!




    Event Queries

    If you have any questions about registrations, please email events@planning.org.nz.

    Registrations Close

    Thursday 21st October.

    Late Registrations

    If you cannot see an 'Add to Cart' button above, it means online registrations have closed. If there are still tickets available we may be able to accept late registrations, please click here if you are interested in attending.


    Zoom Link

    This will be emailed to all attendees after registrations have closed. If you do not receive the link, please check your junk/spam folder before contacting the office.


    NOTE - If you are interested in attending a workshop please register early to ensure it goes ahead. Minimum numbers are required for a workshop to run. This generally ensures there is sufficient people to allow different experience and views to be part of the discussion within the course setting. Registrations for online events normally close 3 days prior to the event.

    Please see the terms and conditions for our cancellation and transfer policy. Thank you