2026 RMLA Scholarship awarded to Charlie Sleigh

RMLA is pleased to announce Charlie Sleigh as the recipient of the 2026 RMLA Scholarship, receiving an award of $7,500 to support his postgraduate research in resource management law.

Charlie is undertaking a Master of Laws by research at the University of Auckland, examining how environmental limits could be used to better protect New Zealand’s estuaries from diffuse discharges of nutrients and sediment.

His proposed thesis asks:

How can environmental limits in the Natural Environment Bill sustain the integrity of New Zealand’s estuaries?

Charlie’s interest in the issue has both personal and professional roots.

“Growing up in Sumner, I watched the Avon-Heathcote estuary regularly turn bright green every summer with sea lettuce blooms. This reflected how the estuary had been treated for much of its post-European history – a sink for human waste, which drains out through the city’s beaches.

“Estuaries are particularly vulnerable to diffuse discharges as they accumulate whatever is emptied into them. Unfortunately, the Resource Management Act 1991 has struggled to effectively address diffuse discharges, a problem that is common among many OECD nations.”

Charlie now works as a Senior Solicitor in Simpson Grierson’s Environment, Planning and Natural Resources Team. His practice has helped develop his interest in the potential for environmental limits to provide a more effective framework for managing the cumulative effects of nutrients and sediment entering estuaries.

In selecting Charlie for the Scholarship, assessors noted the strength of his academic record and legal practice experience, together with a detailed research proposal and strong alignment between the proposed research and RMLA’s objectives.

The RMLA Scholarship supports postgraduate research relating to the application of resource management in New Zealand, particularly research with the potential to contribute to the future development of resource management practice, policy and law in Aotearoa.

Charlie says the Scholarship will directly support his studies:

“I am very grateful to receive the RMLA Scholarship, which will fund my course fees. I hope that my research will help inform the implementation of national standards under the NEB and/or any further resource management reform.

“I look forward to reporting back on my progress next year.”

RMLA congratulates Charlie and looks forward to following his research and sharing its findings with members as the work progresses.