Consents duration extensions
What has changed?
A recent amendment to the Resource Management Act came into effect on 17 December 2025. It extends the expiry dates for some resource consents under the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Who does this apply to?
- Current consents: If your consent was valid on 17 December 2025 and was due to expire before 31 December 2027.
- Recently expired consents: If your consent expired before 17 December 2025 but you were allowed to keep operating under section 124 of the RMA (because you applied for a replacement consent before expiry and it hasn’t been decided yet).
Note: This does not apply to any existing wastewater consents already extended under sections 139C or 139D of the RMA.
How long is the extension?
In most cases, eligible consents will automatically be extended, or if they have expired, deemed to be reinstated and extended to 31 December 2027. The exceptions to this are: water permits, discharge permits to land or water, or land use consents with an associated discharge that already have a 35-year consent term. These will get no further extension.
Do I need to do anything?
No action is required. The extension happens automatically.
However:
- Check you can continue to comply with all consent conditions. If you’re unsure contact us.
- If you’ve applied for a replacement consent, you can choose to withdraw it and rely on the extended consent. If we do not hear from you we will continue processing your application as usual. You should contact the consents officer as soon as possible if you wish to withdraw your application.
- You may need to apply for a new replacement consent before the existing consent expires on 31 December 2027.
What if I withdraw my application?
- You can withdraw it.
- In line with our fees and charges costs incurred to date will be invoiced. All charges will be reviewed to ensure they are fair and reasonable.
Does this apply to new or changed activities?
No. Consent duration for new or replacement consents will be decided following the usual process under the RMA and regional plans. If an application is made for a variation to a consent that has been extended, or reinstated and extended, the consent duration cannot be amended as part of that process, and the extended expiry date will continue to apply.
When will I get confirmation?
Environment Southland has until 17 June 2026 to update your consent record.
What about the 2031 date I’ve heard about?
As part of reforms to the resource management system, two new bills have been introduced (the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill). As currently drafted, these bills propose a further extension to the duration of consents to mid-2031 (being two years after the transition to the new resource management system). These bills are not yet law and are currently going through the legislative process and may be subject to changes as part of that process. You can read more about those bills here.
