On this page is information to assist resource consent holders to manage their consent for its duration. A Resource Consent is an important legal document. When you first receive it, it is important that you read and understand it. You should contact the Regional Council to clarify any points or conditions that you do not fully understand.
On this page:
Keep your consent in a safe place; you will need to refer to it during the duration of the consent.
Advise Environmental Regulation staff of any changes to address or contact details. Failure to do so can make it difficult for Council to contact you with important information.
A Resource Consent may impose conditions to control the way an activity is carried out. These conditions are designed to safeguard the Hawke’s Bay environment and natural resources for other and future users. These conditions will have been discussed with you during the application process and you should be familiar with their content and the reasons for them.
It is your responsibility to adhere to these conditions or risk enforcement action by the Regional Council, which can include court action and substantial fines.
Conditions on your resource consent may require you to monitor the impact of your activity on the environment. The Regional Council will monitor your compliance with these and other conditions on your consent and will check on the environmental effects.
Your resource consent will be issued with an expiry date. You may use that consent until that date. If you apply for a replacement consent no less than six months before it expires, you may continue to operate under that consent until your new application and any appeals have been decided on.
If the activity specified in your consent has not started within a certain period since the granting of the consent, your consent will automatically lapse. The lapse date is generally specified on the front page of your consent document. If it is not, the default date is five years from the commencement date. You can request an extension by applying in writing to the Regional Council, and the Council may approve an extension if:
- substantial progress has been made
- all those affected give their approval, and
- policies and objectives of Regional Plans are not affected.
You will need to discuss this process with Council staff. If you no longer need your consent you may apply in writing to surrender it. Regional Council staff may need to check that there will be no ongoing effects before accepting the surrender.
When you sell your property, don’t forget that any consents relating to activities on that property need to be transferred to the new owner. This must be done by written notice to the Regional Council. The consent holder is responsible for initiating the transfer and remains liable for the consent and any charges until the request for transfer has been received and acknowledged by the Regional Council. Some consents – such as those to take water – can be transferred to another site within the same catchment or groundwater system. The cost of the transfer should be incorporated into your sale agreement.
It is important to remember to transfer all appropriate consents when selling a property. Tell your lawyer that there are consents to be transferred. This is often overlooked – but you should be aware that you will still be liable for monitoring charges if it is your name on our records.
A consent holder can request a change to or cancellation of a consent condition if circumstances change and conditions are no longer appropriate or necessary. The expiry date, however, cannot be changed.
The Regional Council may review the conditions of a consent. The timing and purpose of the review is generally indicated on the consent document. The costs of any review are met by the consent holder.