Barton, Barry2016-05-3020162016-05-302016Barton, B. (2016). Different kinds of argument for applying property law to resource consents. Resource Management Journal, 2016(April), 1–4.https://hdl.handle.net/10289/10276Two recent Court of Appeal cases present an opportunity for making progress in unravelling some of the puzzles about the extent to which the holder of a Resource Management Act resource consent, such as a water permit, holds property rights. These problems are not unique to the RMA or to New Zealand, and everywhere they involve a difficult interweaving of private law and public law. There is no generally accepted body of law for ascertaining whether the attributes of property ownership attach to permits granted under statutes: B Barton, “Property Rights Created under Statute in Common Law Legal Systems” in A McHarg and others (eds) Property and the Law in Energy and Natural Resources (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010) 80–99. But a useful distinction can be drawn between two different purposes to which property arguments can be put, and it provides a basis on which to reconcile two recent cases, Hampton v Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) [2015] NZCA 509, and Greenshell New Zealand Ltd (in rec) v Kennedy Bay Mussel Co (NZ) Ltd [2015] NZCA 374, [2016] 2 NZLR 44.application/pdfenThis article has been published in the Resource Management Journal. Used with permission.Journal Article