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Our Natural Resources Plan and the National Environmental Standards set out the status of activities when interacting with the natural environment.  

Activities that need resource consent are classified as controlled, restricted discretionary, discretionary and non-complying.  

Activities that do not need a resource consent are classified as permitted. More information on common permitted activities is below.  

Finally, there are some activities classified as prohibited. This means that you cannot undertake that activity and you cannot apply for a resource consent for that activity.  

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.  

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 rules in our Natural Resources Plan and the National Environmental Standards.  

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

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

We offer up to 4 hours of free pre-application advice for individuals and small-medium enterprises in relation to the following services:  

• Initial pre-application meeting (1-2 hours)  
• Site visit (1-2 hours)
• Follow up written advice  (1-2 hours)  

To request pre-application advice call us on 0800 496734 or e-mail us at notifications@gw.govt.nz.