Consents and Compliance

We work with the community to make sure our region’s natural resources are managed sustainably.

 Our consents and compliance work has four aspects:

• Processing consents: We use consents to manage activities so that any harm they may have on our communities, or the environment is reduced.
• Monitoring compliance: We monitor activities to make sure they don’t have unexpected negative effects on the environment.
• Responding to incidents: We respond to reports of environmental non-compliance and pollution incidents.
• Enforcing: We consider all available options to ensure compliance with the Resource Management Act 1991, resource consents, our regional plans, and national regulations and standards.

The Resource Management Act 1991 sets out how we should manage our environment and is the foundation for most of our work. Our compliance and investigations teams enforce the Act by monitoring resource consents, checking activities comply with regional plan rules and using enforcement tools when conditions are breached.

The teams also provide technical advice about contaminated land, waste, wastewater, farming activities, forestry and industrial processes.

Get help with consent enquiries

The ORC has two dedicated staff who can help you understand what consents your proposal might need.

Book an in-person appointment with our friendly staff

Notice of update to consent application forms

The Otago Regional Policy Statement 2019 (ORPS 2019) became fully operative on 4 March 2024 and the Proposed Otago Regional Policy Statement (P-ORPS 2021) was fully notified on 30 March 2024.  These changes require us to update our consent applications forms, which we are in the process of doing. In the meantime, if we need any further from the applicant on the policy assessment, we will be in touch.