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Resource Management Act 1991

Resource consents - Transfer of consents

136: Transferability of water permits

You could also call this:

“Rules for passing on your water permit to someone else”

If you have a water permit, you can transfer it to someone else under certain conditions. You can transfer the whole permit to the owner or occupier of the site where the permit is used, but you cannot transfer it to just anyone or move it to a different site. If your permit is not for damming or diverting water, you can transfer the whole or part of it to the owner or occupier of the site, or to someone else on a different site if the sites are in the same catchment, aquifer, or geothermal field. You need to follow the rules in the regional plan or get approval from the consent authority that granted the permit, and you can find more information about this process in sections 39 to 42A, 88 to 115, 120, and 121 and the consent authority will consider the effects of the transfer, including the impact on the site and the permit conditions, as outlined in section 104. When you transfer a permit, you must give written notice to the consent authority, and the transfer will not take effect until they receive the notice. If the transfer is approved, the original permit will be cancelled and the transferred part will be considered a new permit with the same or different conditions.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM235265.

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Part 6 Resource consents
Transfer of consents

136Transferability of water permits

  1. A holder of a water permit granted for damming or diverting water may transfer the whole of the holder's interest in the permit to any owner or occupier of the site in respect of which the permit is granted, but may not transfer the permit to any other person or from site to site.

  2. A holder of a water permit granted other than for damming or diverting water may transfer the whole or any part of the holder's interest in the permit—

  3. to any owner or occupier of the site in respect of which the permit is granted; or
    1. to another person on another site, or to another site, if both sites are in the same catchment (either upstream or downstream), aquifer, or geothermal field, and the transfer—
      1. is expressly allowed by a regional plan; or
        1. has been approved by the consent authority that granted the permit on an application under subsection (4).

        2. A transfer under subsection (1) or subsection (2) may be for a limited period.

        3. A transfer under any of subsections (1), (2)(a), and (2)(b)(i) shall have no effect until written notice of the transfer is received by the consent authority that granted the permit.

        4. An application under subsection (2)(b)(ii)—

        5. shall be in the prescribed form and be lodged jointly by the holder of the water permit and the person to whom the interest in the water permit will transfer; and
          1. shall be considered in accordance with sections 39 to 42A, 88 to 115, 120, and 121 as if—except that, and in addition to the matters set out in section 104, the consent authority shall have regard to the effects of the proposed transfer, including the effect of ceasing or changing the exercise of the permit under its current conditions, and the effects of allowing the transfer.
            1. the application for a transfer were an application for a resource consent; and
              1. the consent holder were an applicant for a resource consent,—

              2. Where the transfer of the whole or part of the holder's interest in a water permit is notified under subsection (3), or approved under subsection (2)(b)(ii), and is not for a limited period, the original permit, or that part of the permit transferred, shall be deemed to be cancelled and the interest or part transferred shall be deemed to be a new permit—

              3. on the same conditions as the original permit (where subsection (3) applies); or
                1. on such conditions as the consent authority determines under subsection (4) (where that subsection applies).

                  Notes
                  • Section 136(2A): inserted, on , by section 74(1) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87).
                  • Section 136(4)(b): amended, on , by section 150 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                  • Section 136(5): amended, on , by section 74(2) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87).