Holly-Marie Rearic

Senior Associate

Holly-Marie is an environmental and planning lawyer who advises public and private sector clients on all aspects of environmental and resource management law. She helps clients navigate the complexities of this specialist area of law with insight and care, providing commercially astute advice that supports their long-term goals.

She works across a wide range of industries and sectors including energy, resource extraction, forestry, property development, aged care, healthcare, accommodation, infrastructure, aquaculture, and government.

Holly-Marie has experience advising clients on resource consenting, plan changes, incident response, compliance and enforcement, hazardous substances, contamination, alcohol licensing, and climate-related advisory including ESG and the Emissions Trading Scheme. She also regularly undertakes environmental due diligence for large-scale commercial transactions on behalf of vendors, purchasers, lenders and insurers. Her expertise in this area includes undertaking planning assessments, advising on environmental compliance, sensitive land, contamination and asbestos liability, and in drafting warranties and indemnities.

She has appeared in hearings for plan changes, resource consents, and environmental prosecutions, and presents updates to clients on the evolving resource management framework.

Holly-Marie supports clients with strategic insight, responsiveness, adaptability, and a solutions-focused approach. She regularly contributes to MinterEllisonRuddWatts insights and is committed to staying ahead of regulatory changes and emerging case law trends.

Holly-Marie particularly enjoys advising on projects or matters that are novel, complex, or at the forefront of innovation, where creative thinking and strategic insight are essential to unlocking opportunity. This includes providing strategic advice on consenting pathways for emerging technologies, supporting infrastructure with unique environmental challenges, or advising on legislative reform and regulatory change.

Career highlights

Advising Taharoa Ironsands on plan reviews, resource consenting, and other environmental law matters relating to the operation of the Taharoa Mine.

Assisting in providing strategic advice on potential consenting pathways for projects from those proposed by start-up companies to regionally and nationally significant infrastructure projects - including electricity, aquaculture, mines, a rail project, and a community justice and wellness space.

Assisting Metlifecare with a private plan change, planning due diligence, plan reviews, and development contribution policies.

Advising Emrod on planning controls to support testing sites for long-range wireless power transfer technology.

Advising the New Zealand Government on its comprehensive and transformational reform of the country’s resource management system in 2022/2023. The work involved policy development, legislative drafting, workability assessments, and advice during the select committee stages of the two Bills.

Advising several different organisations facing criminal charges under environmental legislation for unintentional discharges of contaminants (including under the Resource Management Act 1991 and Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996). Assisting through all stages of this process including investigations and engagement with key stakeholders.

Affiliations
  • Member, Resource Management Law Association of New Zealand (RMLA)
Achievements and recognition
  • Chambers Asia-Pacific
  • The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific