Resource Consents - Extension to Expiry Dates

On 17 December 2025, changes were made to the Resource Management Act (RMA) to extend the expiry date of some resource consents.

The changes mean that resource consents that expire before 31 December 2027, are extended until that date.

If you have a resource consent granted by Waimakariri District Council (WDC), you may be wondering whether it’s affected by this.

It’s important to be aware there are two different concepts in the RMA relating to timeframes, as follows:

Lapse Date:

  • A District Council consent will lapse 5 years after the commencement date1, if it hasn’t been given effect to, as explained below.
  • For land use consents, the consent holder must have either started the activity or have made substantial progress towards starting. If the activity hasn’t started or substantial progress hasn’t been made, the consent will lapse.
  • For subdivision consents, a survey plan must have been submitted to Council for approval (i.e. for the 223 certificate to be signed), otherwise the subdivision consent will lapse.

Expiry Date:

  • Applies to resource consents which can only operate for a specific period. For example, water permits can be granted for a period ranging from 5 years to 35 years, and the expiry date will be set out in the resource consent.
  • Consents granted by Regional Councils often have expiry dates.
  • Consents granted by District Councils generally don’t have expiry dates.

Lapse dates and expiry dates are quite different. It’s important to note:

  • The recent changes to the RMA relate to expiry dates.
  • District Council consents usually don’t have expiry dates.
  • So land use and subdivision consents granted by WDC are unlikely to be affected by the recent change to the RMA.
  • However, there may be instances where a consent granted by WDC has an expiry date (e.g. where consent has been granted for a temporary activity).

If you have a question about this issue, or if you think your land use or subdivision consent might have an expiry date and could be affected by the changes to the RMA, please email: duty.planner@wmk.govt.nz and include details of your resource consent.

For more information, refer to: