Need a resource consent?

GWRC deals with four types of resource consent:

• Land use consents: for activities that involve constructing or altering bores, using or disturbing a river bed or lake bed, or soil disturbances
• Discharge permits: for activities that involve discharging a contaminant or water into water, discharging a contaminant onto or into land, or into air
• Water permits: for activities that involve taking, damming or diverting water
• Coastal permits: for activities in the coastal marine area.

City and District Councils deal with consents for other activities, such as subdivision consents and building permits.

Activities that need resource consent are classified as controlled, restricted discretionary, discretionary and non-complying in our regional plans. Our Regional Plan User Guide provides helpful guidance for you to see if your activity requires a resource consent.

If you are unsure about whether your activity needs resource consent, please contact us.

There is an initial fee when applying for a resource consent. Once a resource consent has been approved, there are also monitoring charges as well. 

Further information regarding the costs of resource consent applications. 

Some activities are classified as permitted. Permitted activities are allowed without resource consent provided that conditions specified in the GWRC regional plan rule for that activity are complied with.

Some common permitted activities are:

• Taking small quantities of water from rivers, streams, and groundwater aquifers
• Constructing small dams
• Extracting small quantities of sand and gravel from rivers and streams
• Maintaining drains 
• Constructing small bridges
• Maintaining, repairing, replacing, and extending existing structures in rivers and streams
• Land based application of agrichemical sprays and powders  
• Aerobically treated on site sewage disposal
• On site sewage treatment and disposal
• Discharges from domestic refuse and composting to land
• Discharges from offal pits and silage to land
• Application of fertiliser to land

All permitted activities can be found by checking the rules in our regional plans.

If you are unsure about whether your activity is considered a permitted activity, please contact us.

Feel free to talk to us before you apply for a resource consent. We can check you are applying for the right type of consent and that you include enough information to avoid unnecessary delays. 

You can have up to four hours of free pre-application advice at our offices. If you can't visit any of our offices, we can also offer advice by telephone or email. To arrange a pre-application meeting, call  0800 496734 or email info@gw.govt.nz. 

When you are organising a pre-application meeting, do not forget to: 

1. Tell us what works/activity you would like to discuss; and
2. Bring any professional advisors (such as planners or engineers) that may be assisting you to the meeting.