Do I need a resource consent?Me whai tono whakaaetanga rawa taiao?

Land use activities that may require resource consent can include:

• New bores/wells

• Building new bridges, culverts and dams that work in, on, or under the bed of rivers, lakes and artificial watercourse

• A river is defined by the Resource Management Act (RMA) as: ‘a continually or intermittently flowing body of fresh water; and includes a stream and modified watercourse; but does not include any artificial watercourse (including an irrigation canal, water supply race, canal for the supply of water for electricity power generation and farm drainage canal)’.

• The RMA definition above includes smaller waterways like creeks and ephemeral streams and also modified watercourses

• Read more about the definition of a waterway in our fact sheet: What is a waterway?

• Vegetation clearance or soil disturbance, particularly in the vicinity of watercourses

• Using land for production land use activities such as intensive winter grazing, feedlots / stock holding areas,  storing and disposing of animal effluent or farming activities in some areas

• Gravel extraction - small scale or large scale riverbed and lake bed gravel extractions.

 You will likely need a consent for taking water for:

• irrigation and industrial purposes
• filling a dam or reservoir, or
• if you exceed the permitted volumes from any of the following: 
• groundwater from an aquifer
• surface water from a stream, river or lake source
• taking water from or to fill a storage dam or reservoir.
• construction of an instream dam or other damming or diversion of water.

Note: Water takes of 20 cubic metres per day, (or five cubic metres per day for new takes within the Tūtaekurī, Ahuriri, Ngaruru and Karamū (TANK) plan change area), are permitted for use on your property in most parts of the region, therefore a resource consent would not be required. This includes takes for domestic/household use and stock drinking supply

More information

• More information about water permits within the TANK plan change area is available on our page: Heretaunga Plains Groundwater Quantity Area
• Our Water Allocation Calculator (WAC) is a tool that helps us improve the accuracy, consistency and visibility of water allocation reporting and consenting.

Wastewater

A resource consent may be required for the discharge of treated domestic effluent from an on-site wastewater system where there is no sewer connection, particularly in rural areas. These are generally from domestic wastewater in the form of pit privies, septic tanks and more advanced systems (secondary or tertiary treated system).

You will need consents for Discharges of waste/wash water from wineries.

Pumped subsurface drainage to water

‘Drainage’ means the activity of lowering the water table to achieve productive land use to facilitate stability of land or structures or to achieve some other resource use activity. This generally involves the diversion of water.

Stormwater

Where there is no connection to a local council stormwater system, consent may be required for the discharge of stormwater to ground or waterways, particularly from industrial or trade premises.

Discharges of stormwater are potentially significant sources of contamination to receiving systems/environments, particularly where there is an industrial land use at the source of the discharge. Discharges from industrial areas should include treatment of the stormwater before discharge to reduce the contaminants within the water.

If your activity is at the highest level that spring tides reach, within the Coastal Marine Area, then it is regulated by the Regional Coastal Environment Plan.

These activities may include navigation structures, coastal protection structures, disturbances of the seabed, taking of coastal waters, and discharges into the coastal environment.

Activities within land which the coast is usually a significant part of are also regulated by the Regional Coastal Environment Plan, but rules are similar to the land use, water and discharge permits described in the preceding sections. Activities such as development within coastal hazard zones are also regulated by the Regional Coastal Environment Plan and often require resource consent.

The Resource Management Act, 1991 (RMA) is New Zealand’s main piece of legislation that sets out how we manage our environment and natural resources (such as air, soil, freshwater, coastal areas). It is based on the sustainable principles, requiring consideration of current and future effects on the environment when making decisions.

Under the RMA, there are pieces of legislation which require resource consents to be sought for some activities and local plans such as the Regional Resource Management Plan and Regional Coastal Environment Plan which provide region specific rules and regulations. These national and local pieces of legislation define what activities require resource consent and what activities do not.

As a regulator, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is legally obliged to follow the law (the RMA) when making decisions related to resource consents.

National Environmental Standards (NES) are regulations that prescribe standards for environmental matters. The government sets standards where appropriate to ensure a consistent standard for an activity or resource use.

• Essential Freshwater (including National Environmental Standards for Freshwater, Stock Exclusion Regulations and Measuring and Reporting of Water Takes Regulations

• We have produced guidance for several of the National Environmental Standards (NES) that prescribe standards for environmental matters.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council's has reviewed and updated the policy on dangerous dams, earthquake-prone dams and flood-prone dams to align with the new Building (Dam Safety) Regulations 2022 which came into effect in May 2024.

More information is available on our page: Dam safety regulations and policy