Transitional Consenting

Transitional resource consenting changes

The Planning Act and Natural Environment Act have been passed into law and will eventually replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and introduce a new planning and resource management system.

The change will happen progressively and the first key changes affecting resource consenting begin on the 30th of October 2026. The Planning Act includes some amendments to the RMA referred to as transitional consenting provisions.

From the 30th of October 2026 resource consent applications will continue to be processed under the RMA during the transition period and the Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP) will continue to apply.

What is changing on 30 October?

For district land-use consents, the amendments to the RMA identify a number of matters that must be disregarded/are out of scope (Section 104(1A)).

What is Council doing in response to these changes?

We are currently in the process of:

Reviewing the NRMP provisions to identify all out of scope matters
Reviewing guidance published on the Council website
Updating our process checklists, templates and condition wording
Preparing staff for the new requirements
Engaging with professionals who regularly lodge resource consent applications
Working with Tasman District Council on implementation of the changes across the wider region.

How does this affect the NRMP and resource consents?

The NRMP remains in place during the transition, but some provisions may be affected by the changes to the RMA, which will affect the requirement for, and processing of, new resource consent applications.

The attached PDF sets out our current thinking regarding provisions that are likely to be out of scope. It is important to note that this may change as thinking on the interpretation and application of the out of scope matters evolves.

Applications lodged before 30 October

Applications lodged before the 30th of October will continue to be processed under the existing NRMP provisions and RMA requirements that applied prior to the transitional period.

If you have an existing application that is being processed or has recently been processed, and you think the proposed changes could materially affect your proposal or the outcome of the process please talk to the planner processing your resource consent to consider what options are available moving forward. If the application does not have a planner allocated, please contact Resource.ConsentsAdmin@ncc.govt.nz

Applications lodged from 30 October

Resource consent applications lodged from the 30th of October will be processed under the transitional consenting provisions and out of scope matters (refer to table) will be disregarded.

Councils have two options available to deal with out of scope provisions in plans:

1. Section 104AA Permitted Activity notice for out-of-scope matters

Where proposals only breach plan rules that are out of scope under the new s104(1A), the Council may issue a s104AA permitted activity notice stating that the activity is permitted and doesn’t need a resource consent. The notice will have a 5-year lapse period.

For planning checks on building consent applications that only breach rules relating to out of scope matters we will contact you to let you know that Section 104AA can be applied.
If resource consent applications are submitted that only trigger out of scope rules, we may issue a permitted activity notice instead.

2. Council may remove or change out of scope plan provisions (s76A)

The amendments to the RMA enable Councils to remove or change out of scope provisions in plans without the usual process required for plan changes.

We are currently in the process of identifying the affected rules and other provisions in the NRMP. We are working with other councils, the New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI), and the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) to achieve consistency where possible on interpreting and applying the out of scope matters.

We have identified a first tranche of out of scope provisions in the NRMP, and in due course we will aim to annotate the NRMP to show the affected provisions. Council may decide to remove these provisions from the plan using s76A, after a settling in period for implementing the transitional changes to the RMA.

This means that initially the NRMP will still contain out of scope matters. During this time if consent is required only for a matter or matters that are out-of-scope, Council may issue a s104AA permitted activity notice. Where an activity breaches a number of rules, and not all those rules are out of scope, then consent will still be required, and the out of scope matters can be identified and disregarded as part of the resource consent process.

Building Consents/PIMs

If you have a building consent or PIM that is subject to a s37 certificate requiring resource consent only for rules that are now out of scope, then we can issue a s104AA permitted activity notice instead. If this affects your building consent and you think resource consent is no longer needed, please contact us via the Duty Planner email at dutyplanner@ncc.govt.nz.

If you want to amend your issued building consent plans, you’ll need to apply for a variation or amendment to your building consent in the usual way. If you already have a PIM only, and want to amend your plans, you’ll need to apply for a new PIM.

Need help?

If you have an application currently being processed, please contact the planner responsible for your application.

For all other enquiries please email resource.consentsadmin@ncc.govt.nz

The transitional consenting provisions are new to everyone. As a result, it’s likely that some things will need to be refined after 30 October 2026 as more guidance is released, other councils share their approaches, and the new provisions are applied to real projects. We encourage people to talk to us early about any activities that may involve consideration of out of scope matters. We also welcome any questions or feedback you have for us along the way.

Other Resources

MCERT has set up a website that contains guidance about transitional consenting and how this will affect resource consents at planning.govt.nz.