How to apply for a resource consentMe pēhea te tono whakaaetanga rawa taiao

Before applying for a resource consent, you must have a clearly defined idea of what you want to do and where. There are different rules that regulate activities in different areas, so it is important to have a good idea of where you want to undertake your activity.

See our page: Need a Consent?

There are a number of rules and legislation that might be relevant.

See our page about the Hawke’s Bay Regional Resource Management Plan (RRMP).

Catchment rules

• If you are in the Tukituki catchment, refer to the rules that are relevant within the RRMP, introduced by Plan Change 6.
• If you are in the Tūtaekurī, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamū (TANK) catchments, proposed Plan Change 9 will be relevant. A decision has been notified on the TANK Plan Change and the rules of this plan change have legal effect. Find more information on our page About Tank.  
  

Coastal activities

Se our page about the Hawke’s Bay Regional Coastal Environment Plan (RCEP) for coastal activities.

National legislation

Check whether the activity effects any national legislation that may be relevant. Some activities are regulated by National Environmental Standards such as forestry, discharges to air, activities affecting wetlands or fish passage (culverts etc).

Maps

Consider the relevant plans, overlays and surrounding environment using our publicly available maps.

We encourage you to speak to us about your proposal, we can provide you advice as to whether consent is required and direct you where to find information and professional expertise where necessary.  We can help with:

• seeking clarification on the need for a resource consent for an activity
• verifying rule or policy interpretation
• queries about current resource consents.

Consent advisors are available to speak with you on the phone to discuss higher level queries, such as the above. If necessary, the consent advisors can help arrange a pre-application meeting with a planner.

Pre-application process

We can adjust our pre-application service to suit your needs and can offer more in depth advice on the following:

• types of resource consents needed
• required supporting information
• people who should be consulted
• application process
• review of technical reports or assessments required
• review of draft applications
• feasibility of your proposal.

The first hour of our pre-application service is free. Please note tasks such as preparing or reviewing relevant information, preliminary meetings, emails, or phone calls, as well as administrative tasks will be included in this time. After the first hour of work, we will charge for this service. 

For simple projects pre-application advice may include a phone call or email, or for more complex proposals a review of supporting or technical reports.

More information about where to get advice is available on our page: Who to talk to

It is often a good idea to engage with a planning consultant. They can advise you on the merits of your activity and, if needed, prepare and lodge your application for you.

Depending on the activity, you may also need a report from a technical specialist. For example, if you are seeking to take water, you may need input from a hydrologist to help determine the nature and scale of the effect.

More information is available on our page: Who to talk to

Consents vary in complexity and we recommend you talk with people who may be affected by your work when preparing your application. This may include neighbours, groups such as the Department of Conservation, Fish and Game, and affected iwi groups or nearby marae.

If you are applying for resource consents in the coastal and marine area, in some cases you are required to consult with the Customary Marine Title applicant group before lodging your application.

More information is available on our page: Who to talk to

All applications require a Form A and a Form B (the only exception to this is a Bore Permit which is a combination of the two).

You can find links to all application forms with accompanying guidance notes on our page:

Application forms

Once you have completed the application forms you can submit your application by various methods. The Regional Council is working on making it simpler to do this online.

Post, email or deliver the application along with any other supporting information and the required deposit:

• Email the consent advisor: consentadvisor@hbrc.govt.nz (preferred method).
• Deliver in person to: Consent Advisor, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, 159 Dalton Street, Napier.
• Post to: Consent Advisor, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Private Bag 6006, NAPIER 4142. 

Once submitted, the application cannot be lodged until the required deposit has been paid.  For a list of current consent charges including required deposits, see our page: Consent costs

A payment reference (this is your application number) for the required deposit will be emailed to you by the Consent Advisor once we receive your completed application forms. Once you have received the this reference (application number) you can make payment via online banking. Full payment information is available on our page: Make a payment

Alternatively, if you deliver your signed application to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council office at 159 Dalton Street Napier you can pay by cash or EFTPOS at reception. The Waipawa and Wairoa offices do not have payment facilities.

Please note, we can't create invoices for deposit payments for the lodgement of consent applications, however we have designed the front page of Form A to meet invoicing requirements for accounts and audits. 

Once we receive your application and deposit, we check it to see that we have all the information we need. We may ask for more information or commission a specialist report if required. In some cases, we can also defer the processing (notification or hearing) of an application if we find that other consents are required. 

How long does a consent take to process?

We must receive the application within the first 10 working days of it being lodged.  ‘Received’ means our consents planners have viewed the application and consider it has enough information to begin processing. If any important information is missing, we will let you know within that time.