Manly resident Bob McNaughton wanted to have his say on a local apartment block proposal, but says the town planning process made it "pointless".
After hearing that a five-storey block was proposed for a site on the ridge at the Manly Town Centre, Mr McNaughton and wife Dianetwice went to the Rodney District Council offices in Orewa to get details.
But they say proposal documents for public viewing did not give enough information on which to make a meaningful submission by the deadline of April 4.
"As a first-time submitter I'm no expert but this one is surely out on a limb," said Mr McNaughton.
He said the applicant, Manly Group Investments, had completed only part of the resource consent application form.
As well, documents available for public viewing at the counter did not adequately describe what consents were required and what were being sought.
Despite these problems, the McNaughtons were among 554 submitters heard by council-appointed planning commissioners on June 9 and 13.
Mr McNaughton said he was dismayed to find that the information he had sought was made available eight weeks after the submissions deadline.
"I'm concerned at the process ... there is a substantial lack of transparency. I have to argue against the evidence of expert witnesses and I'm not given a basic description to do it with ... I reckon that disenfranchised the public."
The hearing is adjourned until July 11 when the applicant will respond to the submissions.
The council's director of district strategy and planning, Warren McLennan, said it was regrettable that some assessment of environmental effects reports had gone missing from the public copy at the council offices.
The documents were reported missing on March 27 and were replaced the next day.
