What’s the story with compliance?
Environment Canterbury media release: 28th October 2026
We often get asked how we do compliance and why it’s important. This page explains how we monitor compliance with resource consents and handle cases of non-compliance.
Our role as environmental regulator
We are Waitaha Canterbury’s environmental regulator, responsible for managing natural resources including air, soil, water and land.
We work with mana whenua, stakeholders and communities to promote the sustainable management of these natural resources, and protect and enhance the health of our natural environment.
Environmental Regulation and Protection includes clear rules and guidance to ensure resources are used consistently within the rules, community aspirations and national requirements. We maintain key working relationships with mana whenua, other agencies and communities to deliver on-the-ground action to drive improved outcomes.
Resource consents
A resource consent is an important asset that allows individuals or businesses to do an activity, such as taking water for irrigation or being able to discharge wastewater on to land.
Because these activities can impact the environment, consents usually come with several conditions. Essentially, the consent is a contract between us as the regulator and the consent holder and the community.
The expectation is that the consent holder will meet the conditions of their consent, while we monitor high-risk consents to make sure they are doing so.
Monitoring is a shared responsibility
Improving environmental and community outcomes is a shared responsibility between government (central and regional or local), resource users, industry and our communities.
We continue to manage the largest volume of resource consents in New Zealand. In Waitaha Canterbury, there are more than 27,500 active consents and more than 500,000 consent conditions across a large geographical area, with a range of activities covered by ever-evolving rules set up at the national, regional and local government level.
The size and complexity of the monitoring landscape means it’s not possible without considerable cost to us – and to ratepayers – to monitor every consent every year, so we take a strategic approach.
Types of consents and activities we monitor
Compliance monitoring is a key priority for us as it is required by law under the Resource Management Act, our plans and consent conditions, and it is expected of us by the community.
Monitoring depends on the type of consent. When we process a consent application, we assess the environmental risk of the activity, in particular the magnitude of potential damage and the probability it will occur.
This is informed by the scale and location of the activity, type of activity and the consent holder’s compliance history.
Over time, risk levels can change due to regulation changes, new information coming to light, or higher risk at the beginning of an activity, such as one that involves construction.
For example, an activity may be seen as high risk due to the level of non-compliance. However, once compliance is being demonstrated, the resulting risk level would lower.
Some consents we assess as being a high priority for monitoring are due to their:
- risk to the environment
- importance to the community
- compliance history
- scale.
Water take, or use, and contaminant discharges are our most monitored activities.
Enforcement for consent condition breaches
We work with consent holders first – providing advice and support for them to take action to become compliant with their consent’s conditions.
However, we appreciate that education isn’t always going to work. When a consent holder breaches conditions, we may take enforcement actions, such as:
- Notice of non-compliance
- Letter of formal warning
- Abatement notice
- Infringement notice
- Enforcement order from the Environment Court
- Prosecution.
Taking a more targeted, risk-based approach
We continue to strengthen our compliance monitoring efforts by implementing a risk-based and property-focused approach, providing better visibility of compliance risks and enabling more targeted regulatory responses.
Our 2025/2026 Annual Report notes that compliance activity increased from 3,445 inspections in 2024/2025 to 4,262 inspections this financial year, with a continued focus on monitoring complex and high-risk activities.
We will continue to embed and expand the risk-based, property-focused compliance model to further improve visibility of compliance risks, support consistent customer engagement, and enable resources to be prioritised towards activities presenting the greatest environmental risk.
Types of enforcement actions
Find out how we respond to environmental offending, from formal warnings to prosecution.
Report an environmental incident
Concerned about an activity harming our air, land or water?
Find out how to report an environmental incident.