Rule 33 Removal or demolition of structures

The removal or demolition of any structure or any part of a structure that is fixed in, on, under, or over any river or lake bed, including any associated:

• disturbance of river or lake bed; or
• deposition on any river or lake bed; or
• temporary diversion of water, which:

(1) disturbs less than 10 cubic metres of sand, shingle, gravel, or other natural river or lake bed material; and

(2) results in the complete removal of the structure from the river or lake bed or complete removal of that part of the structure in the river or lake bed; and

(3) is not the removal or demolition of a structure for the purposes of the replacement of a structure permitted by Rule 22;

[(4) will not result in the diversion of water from any wetland;]

is a permitted activity provided it complies with the conditions specified below.

Conditions

(1) No contaminants (including but not limited to oil, petrol, diesel, paint, or solvent) shall be released to water from equipment being used for the operation, and no refuelling of equipment shall take place on any area of river or lake bed.

(2) There is no use of explosives.

(3) All material removed or demolished from the structure (or any part of the structure) shall be removed from the river or lake bed and disposed of in an appropriate manner.

(4) All reasonable steps shall be taken to minimise the release of sediment to water during construction.

(5) In any part of the river or lake bed covered by water in any water body identified in Policy 4.2.14 (Appendix 4 - Water bodies with important trout habitat (click here for a pdf Important Trout Habitat (146k))), the activity shall not take place between 31 May and 31 August.

(6) Water is only diverted for the period necessary to carry out the work.

In Rule 33, clause (4) was inserted by Decisions on Plan change 1 to the Regional Freshwater Plan December 2002