Information for consent holdersKua riro tō whakaaetanga, ināianei me aha

The Government introduced s123C to provide additional time for councils and consent holders during national resource management reform.
HBRC is required by law to implement these extensions for eligible consents by 17 June 2026.

Your consent may have been extended by s139C of the RMA instead of the above, which gives some consents relating to the operation of wastewater networks extended duration.

No. The extension is automatic and came into effect from 17 December 2025. HBRC are updating our records where the extension is applied.

No. The extension only changes the expiry date.
All conditions still apply, including:

• environmental limits
• monitoring requirements
• reporting or audit schedules
• review provisions

You may wish to talk to us to ask the time that has been spent on processing the application and may wish for us to continue processing this application to provide some certainty for your activity as we transition to the new system.

When we contacted you prior to the legislation changing, we were operating under the normal RMA requirements. At that time, we had no knowledge that the Government was about to introduce new legislation extending many resource consent durations and had already started processing your application.
As soon as the Government announced the new extension rules, we stopped processing affected applications. We contacted all consent holders who had already applied.

Because your existing consent is now extended to the new duration, you can choose to:

a. Proceed with your replacement application, or
b. Withdraw it.

You will be charged for the actual time that we have already spent on your application.

You may want to talk to us to understand the work already undertaken for your application.

We understand this situation is frustrating. It arose because the legislation was unexpected and took effect immediately, and while we stopped working on the application as soon as the legislation was announced, costs were already accrued. If we do not recover the costs of work already completed, those costs fall to general ratepayers, which isn’t equitable.

Affected consent holders who haven’t lodged a replacement consent application yet can choose to rely on their extended consent until it expires, noting that they:

• can only do the activity covered by the consent
• will need to continue complying with the existing consent conditions and any outstanding enforcement actions
• may need to apply for a new replacement application before the existing consent expires (e.g. on 31 December 2027)

Yes. You may surrender your consent at any time under s138 RMA.

No. Lapse dates (when a consent expires if not exercised) are still governed by s125 RMA. Check your lapse date on the front page of your consent document.

No. The extension only extends the timeframe. You still need to comply with the conditions of consent.
If your activity has changed, you may need:

• a s127 variation to conditions, or
• a new consent if the activity is no longer covered.

No. HBRC will continue monitoring in line with your existing conditions.

Yes. Any review clauses in your consent remain in force. Check the review condition in your resource consent to understand how a review under s128 RMA can occur.

You can apply to vary consent conditions under the normal variation process under s127.

Not necessarily. Not all resource consents are eligible for this extension, only those meeting the legislative criteria will be extended. You will receive a notice for each consent that is extended, given the number of affected resource consents, this notice may come out at a different time to other notices.

Even though your consent has been extended under the new Government legislation, you may still need to apply for a replacement in the future.

The Government has signalled further changes to the resource management system, but these proposals are not yet law. Until any new system is formally introduced, the current RMA still applies. This means consents will continue to need replacing before they expire, unless the Government makes further changes that remove or change that requirement.

HBRC will update consent holders as more information becomes available.

The Government is currently progressing several reforms to replace the Resource Management Act as well as wider government proposal such as changes to local government structure and rates capping. Here’s how your consent fits into the bigger picture:

• The RMA will continue to apply for a transitional period while the new laws are introduced.
• During that time, some RMA processes may be amended, but the RMA will still apply to resource consents.
• The Government has proposed that consents may be extended again, until two years after the transition period ends. However given this further extension is only a proposal at this stage, it may change as the Bills progress through Parliament
• Wider reforms, such as changes to local government structures or proposals around rates, do not affect your current consents.