Frequently Asked QuestionsNgā Pātai e Kaha Whiua Ana

You can check consents from our Resource Consents mapping tool.

Open up the Consent map and search for the address or legal description.  You can click on a site and view the resource consent document.

Leasehold land information can be found here.  You are welcome to phone our Leasehold manager on 835 9212 or email leasehold@hbrc.govt.nz to discuss any payment or property matter or to make an appointment to meet with the manager. You can also talk to the manager if you have decided to freehold. These discussions are confidential.

We send an information brochure with your rates invoice in September, so that you can understand how we use the rates you pay.  You can check our Rates page, and also  our Rates FAQ page here.

You can check on drain spraying and mowing work in your area through the annual maintenance programmes schedules.

You can also contact our Works Group team on 06 845 9210.

The regional council is working with other councils on a project to plan ahead for the likelihood of more coastal hazards due to sea level rise and increased storms.  We all enjoy our coast but it will change with erosion and we need to prepare for this.  The amount you pay in this rate is paying for the research and planning of a strategy. You can find out more about this work on our coastal hazards webpage or go to the Coastal Hazard Strategy 2120 website.

You can check here for information on who can have a fire outdoors and where, plus what you can't burn.  Outdoor burning is not permitted in the Napier or Hastings air shed areas each winter from 1 May to 31 August, but operating a barbecue or pizza oven is allowed. If a neighbour's fire is a nuisance or health hazard, you can call our Pollution Hotline on 0800 108 838 and talk to a compliance officer. 

During summer fire bans can be in force for rural areas and you must check about outdoor burning with Fire & Emergency NZ.

Please call us immediately on 0800 108 838. Please don’t delay in reporting it as it becomes harder to find later or to track down the perpetrator. The information we’d like from you is location, time you saw the incident and any details that might help – such as a vehicle description and registration number if you saw the dumping. 

Please contact our pollution response team on 0800 108 838. Please don’t delay in reporting it as it becomes harder to find later or to track down the perpetrator.  They will ask you for location and other details.

You are welcome to attend Council meetings which are generally held in the Council Chamber at 159 Dalton St in Napier.  Check on the Meetings & Agendas page for details of committees, meeting schedules, agenda papers which you can read online or print .

This page also has information on our webcasting of all council meetings so you can follow meetings from home or office (past meetings can also be viewed). 

All council and committee meetings are open to the public, except when items are confidential or commercially sensitive and public are excluded for that particular agenda item.   Seating is available at the back of the Council Chamber.

Yes, the Regional Council has financial assistance available for Hawke's Bay home owners to upgrade their heating.

If you live in Napier or Hastings, chances are you are in an Air zone to improve air quality and can apply for funding under the Heatsmart programme. 

If you live elsewhere in the region, we can help you upgrade your home heating through the Sustainable Homes programme.

Thank you for being keen to help - our winter planting events are held in different parts of the region during June/July.  The programme and more information on how to get involved is updated before each season.

Please register for planting days as it's important for us to know you are coming so we can plan to have enough plants – when lots of people register we know how quickly the planting will be done.  More importantly for you, it helps us to have enough sausages to sizzle!

You can check on drain spraying and mowing work in your area through the annual maintenance programmes schedules.

You can also contact our Works Group team on 06 845 9210.

You can find details of councillors and their constituencies here - https://www.hbrc.govt.nz/our-council/hbrc-councillors/

If you've entered a URL and got a page with a 404 message instead, it means that either the page you wanted was moved when we updated the website, or the URL has been entered incorrectly.

If you've spotted an error or think something needs sorting out, then the following instruction will also help us fix it.

At the bottom of each webpage is a question "Was this information useful?" - click on NO and a window will open where you can explain the problem to us so we can fix it for you, or send you a link to the new page.  Thanks for letting us know.

You need to be a Hawke's Bay Regional Council ratepayer to apply for Sustainable Homes funding at 6% interest.  When you check that webpage, you will see that if you are replacing a non-compliant fire in the Hastings or Napier Airshed you would qualify for 50% funding (grants or targeted rate).

Please contact our rates team on 0800 108 838 and discuss this issue with them. 

Please call us immediately on 0800 108 838. Please don’t delay in reporting it as it becomes harder to find later or to track down the perpetrator. The information we’d like from you is location, time you saw the incident and any details that might help – such as a vehicle description and registration number if you saw the dumping. 

You can check water quality for swimming in rivers here.

Watch for algal mats on the Tukituki and Waipawa rivers in summer, as the mats can affect people's health and dogs have been known to become fatally ill after eating the mats.  We alert people on where algal mats occur through our Facebook page and update alerts on the LAWA (a national website that we supply data to along with other regional councils).

Our science team samples water quality weekly at 30 popular river and coastal swimming spots during summer – November to March.  Weekly and long term water quality  information for swimming can be checked here.

We alert people about algal mats at rivers through our Facebook page and update alerts on the LAWA (a national website that we supply data to along with other regional councils).  These black mats occur naturally in stony rivers but can cause health problems for people and fatal illness in dogs.

If you are in an urban area and need a privet plant removed by the regional council for health reasons, please contact us on 0800 108 838 with details.  We also require a doctor’s certificate/ positive blood test clearly showing that you have an allergy to privet. We can arrange removal and disposal of any isolated privet plants (and will discuss with any neighbour if a tree is on their property within 50 metres of your residence or place of work).

If you have a hedge or large crop of several privet trees, you will need to prune/trim these to prevent flowering as it’s the flowers that cause allergies.

If you don’t have an allergy and a tree is just a nuisance on your property, contact a tree removal service. You will need to arrange similar removal with a neighbour if any of their trees are a nuisance.

You can check the rule on page 59 of the Regional Pest Management Plan. 

Whether you are a landowner, lifestyle property owner or urban resident, there are animal pests that will require dealing with at some time or another, and our biosecurity staff are experienced at controlling possums, rabbits and rooks.

To request advice or help with a pest control problem, or wish to report anything you think our Pest Control team should know about please provide details on our Contact page. One of our staff will be in touch with you shortly.

Yes we can and you can find more information on why rooks are declared a pest.  Please contact our Biosecurity team on 0800 108 838 and discuss the problem with them.

Rabbits are designated a regional control animal pest, so landowners are responsible for the control of rabbits on their land. However we are able to provide advice and more information is available here.

The Regional Council provides public access to many of the region's rivers where we own and manage land alongside (ie not Mohaka or Wairoa Rivers). We manage the driveways and carpark areas.  You are welcome to enjoy these spots for a range of activities but please leave the area tidy (it's easy to take your rubbish home with you).  

If you have a concern about dumped rubbish, damage or flood risk at a river site, and it needs to be dealt with quickly please phone our Pollution Hotline 0800 108 838 - otherwise report it.

Thanking you for asking as these clean ups really help our environment, and help teach children to take care with our land and water. Your school can choose the area you want to clear rubbish from, whether its your local stream, river or beach.  We can assist your school or group by supplying bags and gloves and, in some instances, we can collect the rubbish for disposal.  Please email our Environmental Education Coordinator for more information.

You can check on drain spraying and mowing work in your area through the annual maintenance programmes schedules.

You can also contact our Works Group team on 06 845 9210.

Please call us immediately on 0800 108 838. Please don’t delay in reporting it as it becomes harder to find later or to track down the perpetrator. The information we’d like from you is location, time you saw the incident and any details that might help – such as a vehicle description and registration number if you saw the dumping. 

A good place to start is our Resource Consents hub, and our Guide for Consent Holders infosheet. 

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council issues consents for activities having an affect on the environment such as water takes, discharges to land, air or water, activities within a river or on the coast. There are a number of things you can do without a consent so also check if you need a consent here. If you have a building related consent query, please see the next question. 

If you are looking to build or alter your home or property, you will only deal with us if:

• your property is in the coastal hazard zone or
• you need a consent for a discharge from an onsite waste water system.

See our Resource Consents hub for full information including how to apply.

Otherwise it’s your local city or district council you need to be working with.

If you have a specific enquiry or concern, please contact the consent advisor on consentadvisor@hbrc.govt.nz or phone 06 835 9200.

You make submissions on publicly notified consents 

You can read the public notice and the applications for consents. You can then make a submission online, or write a submission and post/hand it in to the regional council by the deadline in the public notice. 

Hawke's Bay Regional Council hasn’t been allocating new consents in the TANK area since August 2017, as the TANK project is looking at updating the rules to ensure the best way to manage the water and land across the greater Heretaunga Plains catchments.

The surface and groundwater catchments of the Tutaekuri, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamu ahve  been studied extensively and discussed with water users and the community to develop new rules.  The plan will be proposed to the whole community during 2019. Please contact the consents advisor on consents@hbrc.govt.nz if you need more information on consents availability.

You can check here for information on who can have a fire outdoors and where, plus what you can't burn.  Outdoor burning is not permitted in the Napier or Hastings air shed areas each winter from 1 May to 31 August, but operating a barbecue or pizza oven is allowed. If a neighbour's fire is a nuisance or health hazard, you can call our Pollution Hotline on 0800 108 838 and talk to a compliance officer. 

During summer fire bans can be in force for rural areas and you must check about outdoor burning with Fire & Emergency NZ.

Thanking you for asking as these clean ups really help our environment, and help teach children to take care with our land and water. Your school can choose the area you want to clear rubbish from, whether its your local stream, river or beach.  We can assist your school or group by supplying bags and gloves and, in some instances, we can collect the rubbish for disposal.  Please email our Environmental Education Coordinator for more information.

Planting trees are a great activity for children to learn how trees provide habitat, shade, and increased biodiversity as well as making places look lovely.

Things to consider: Where will you source the trees? If you are planting in school grounds, do you want to plant natives or trees for food and establish an orchard? Does your school want to enhance planting along a nearby stream or river to help with erosion and water quality?  Also ask within your school community about planting options - do you have any connections with a rural property which wants native bush or a wetland enhanced?

Also consider that planting in winter is best to get trees established, so check how boggy an area might be for children.  Work out what is safe and works best for your school.   Ask your local council for advice and assistance. 

Look out for the community planting events - including our planting events - that happen around the region, as being part of those (generally at weekends) means parents can join in too. 

Yes, we welcome schools to use our regional parks to teach children about nature and their environment – each of our parks has a different style and ecosystem so check details about the parks here to chose one that suits your lessons.

Our website has heaps of information that can be used by students and we welcome you to search a topic you are interested in and go from there.  For detailed information check out:

• State of the Environment pages
• The science and engineering report database, more technical information with data suitable for a research project 
• Information in the Maps section
• Council Open Data - much of the data we collect is available for public use, and you can download for use in your own applications. 

If you cannot find information, we can try our best to help.  Our staff are very busy but if you email info@hbrc.govt.nz with specific questions and give us plenty of time to reply, we can get information to you.  We’d love to see the results of your study too, especially if you have researched a topic along similar lines to something we are working on.

Teachers, check out this page for learning resources and education events you can use to enhance your environmental education classes about the environment or outdoor experiences at parks, rivers etc.

Our regional parks help you get up close to nature, get some fresh air and learn about the culture and history of our region, so check out what style of regional park suits you best.

City & district parks information will be on the website of the local council for the area.

Bus information is no longer on the council’s website so click over to https://www.gobay.co.nz/ and save this for next time.

Their website has all the information on routes, times and prices that you need.

If you need to find some lost property please phone GoBay on 878 9250. Please listen to the prompts and clearly leave your name and phone number, bus route and time and what you have lost - GoBay will get back to you and arrange a convenient pick up for you.

For any other query please check www.gobay.co.nz and look under the info tab for the FAQs which should be able to answer most questions. If not phone us and ask for the transport coordinator on 0800 108 838. 

You make submissions on publicly notified consents 

You can read the public notice and the applications for consents. You can then make a submission online, or write a submission and post/hand it in to the regional council by the deadline in the public notice. 

You can check here for information on who can have a fire outdoors and where, plus what you can't burn.  Outdoor burning is not permitted in the Napier or Hastings air shed areas each winter from 1 May to 31 August, but operating a barbecue or pizza oven is allowed. If a neighbour's fire is a nuisance or health hazard, you can call our Pollution Hotline on 0800 108 838 and talk to a compliance officer. 

During summer fire bans can be in force for rural areas and you must check about outdoor burning with Fire & Emergency NZ.

Yes, the Regional Council has financial assistance available for Hawke's Bay home owners to upgrade their heating.

If you live in Napier or Hastings, chances are you are in an Air zone to improve air quality and can apply for funding under the Heatsmart programme. 

If you live elsewhere in the region, we can help you upgrade your home heating through the Sustainable Homes programme.

Please contact our pollution response team on 0800 108 838. Please don’t delay in reporting it as it becomes harder to find later or to track down the perpetrator.  They will ask you for location and other details.

You need to be a Hawke's Bay Regional Council ratepayer to apply for Sustainable Homes funding at 6% interest.  When you check that webpage, you will see that if you are replacing a non-compliant fire in the Hastings or Napier Airshed you would qualify for 50% funding (grants or targeted rate).

Graze paddocks strategically, exclude stock from waterways, and leave an ungrazed buffer zone around critical source areas – where any flows over land most readily find their way to waterways. Find out more here.

Many beaches are considered to be roads, and vehicles must obey normal road rules. Contact your city or district council here if you have a query.

If you see vehicles on the reefs at Kairakau to Blackhead or around Mahia Peninsula, they are not permitted to be driving out there because the reefs are legally protected as these are important for our fisheries.  Heavy vehicles damage these reefs and the fish and plants in them. Please be safe but aim to get details of the vehicle (registration number, make, model, colour) or a photo and send them to us at pollution@hbrc.govt.nz or phone us on 0800 108 838.

A good place to start is our Resource Consents hub, and our Guide for Consent Holders infosheet. 

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council issues consents for activities having an affect on the environment such as water takes, discharges to land, air or water, activities within a river or on the coast. There are a number of things you can do without a consent so also check if you need a consent here. If you have a building related consent query, please see the next question. 

If you are looking to build or alter your home or property, you will only deal with us if:

• your property is in the coastal hazard zone or
• you need a consent for a discharge from an onsite waste water system.

See our Resource Consents hub for full information including how to apply.

Otherwise it’s your local city or district council you need to be working with.

If you have a specific enquiry or concern, please contact the consent advisor on consentadvisor@hbrc.govt.nz or phone 06 835 9200.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council hasn’t been allocating new consents in the TANK area since August 2017, as the TANK project is looking at updating the rules to ensure the best way to manage the water and land across the greater Heretaunga Plains catchments.

The surface and groundwater catchments of the Tutaekuri, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamu ahve  been studied extensively and discussed with water users and the community to develop new rules.  The plan will be proposed to the whole community during 2019. Please contact the consents advisor on consents@hbrc.govt.nz if you need more information on consents availability.

Leasehold land information can be found here.  You are welcome to phone our Leasehold manager on 835 9212 or email leasehold@hbrc.govt.nz to discuss any payment or property matter or to make an appointment to meet with the manager. You can also talk to the manager if you have decided to freehold. These discussions are confidential.

We send an information brochure with your rates invoice in September, so that you can understand how we use the rates you pay.  You can check our Rates page, and also  our Rates FAQ page here.

Check out the details of the Sustainable Homes funding that we are making available to  homeowners throughout Hawke's Bay to make their homes more comfortable and healthy.  These are repaid through a voluntary targeted rate.

If it's a Heatsmart loan or grant you have heard about, then these are only for homes in the Napier and Hastings air sheds to replace their old woodburners or open fires - funding is still available and information is at the same link.