Do you need a Resource Consent?Me whai tono whakaaetanga rawa taiao?

Find Application forms here

What is required

The Regional Management Plan and the Regional Coastal Environment Plan set out the requirements for resource consents.  You may also need building consents from your local city or district councils. There is also other legislation which may impact on your requirements for resource consent, namely the National Environmental Standards.  You can find out more about the NES here and on the Ministry for Environment webpage

As well as using these webpages, we recommend new applicants in particular read the Everyday Guide to the RMA from the Ministry for the Environment.

What DON'T you need a consent for?

There are many activities where you don’t need a consent, these are known as permitted activities.  Permitted activities specific to the regional rules are:

- You can take small quantities of water (no more than 20 cubic metres per day, or 5 m3/day in the TANK Plan Change area) for use on your property in most parts of the region .

- You can burn vegetation and untreated wood outside most of the year, except during winter from 1 May – 31 August on properties within the Napier or Hastings airsheds.

What you DO need a consent for?

When your activities may have an effect on the environment then consents are necessary.  These webpages cover these activities in detail.

Taking water (groundwater or surface water) 

for taking water from a river, stream, lake or aquifer for use in production, processing, irrigation. Note: taking water for your domestic supply and stock supply requires no consent.

Discharging on site waste water 

for discharging treated domestic effluent from an on-site waste water system (septic tank) from industrial and trade premises.  Note: domestic on-site waste water systems may also require resource consent depending on the volume discharged, the type of system and the location.  

Discharging stormwater

for discharging stormwater into the ground where there is no connection to the local stormwater system

Discharging dairy farm effluent

for discharging effluent to land and to discharge odour and airborne contaminants to air

Discharging contaminants to land, water or air

for discharging contaminants to the air in certain situations.

Doing work in the bed of a stream, river or lake

such as installing a culvert or bridge

Building in a coastal hazard zone

any construction, building in the coastal hazard zone such as houses, decks, seawalls etc

Undertaking an activity in the coastal marine area

such as outflow discharge pipes, jetty or mooring installation or mussel farming

Bore permits

a permit to drill a well. Important: this is not a resource consent to take water from the well (see Taking water).

Transfers & other changes

• transferring resource consents when a property is sold.
• reducing the rate of take allowed as a condition of a water permit consent.
• withdrawing an application before the decision has been made, ie. before the consent has been issued.
• surrendering a resource consent that is no longer required
• lapse of a date extension – extending the lapse date of a resource consent if the consent has not yet been exercised.

Who can apply for, or hold a consent?

Anyone can apply for consent for an activity on any property. Consents do not have to be held by the landowner and gaining resource consent does not guarantee land access.

For a company to hold a consent, it must be a New Zealand company registered with the New Zealand Companies Office.

Please contact our consents advisor for any advice on resource consent applications. 

How to apply

Applications can be lodged via email to the consentadvisor@hbrc.govt.nz or physically to any of our offices, please check the front page of your applications Form A for full lodgement instructions.

Find out more about applying for a consent here.