Consent fast-track approvals

The Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 (FTAA) is a new approval process for a range of infrastructure, housing and development projects with significant regional or national benefits. It is an alternative process to consenting under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).

The Environmental Protection Authority and the Ministry for the Environment administer the applications under the FTAA. Other regulatory bodies are also given the opportunity to input into the process, including regional councils like ours.

Fast-track application pathways

Projects can access the fast-track approvals process in two ways: via a referral process and a substantive process.  

Referral process

• An applicant lodges a project for referral with the Ministry for the Environment, which assesses that it complies with the FTAA.

• Compliant applications are then sent to the Minister for Infrastructure, who then decides whether a project can be accepted and ‘referred’ to the fast-track approval process. 

Substantive process

• Referred projects can lodge a substantive application with the Environmental Protection Authority for an expert panel to consider and decide on final approvals.
• Projects already listed in Schedule 2 of the FTAA could make a substantive application from 7 February 2025.  Of the 149 projects listed, 23 are in the Canterbury region. 

An overview of the fast-track process is available here: Process overview | Fast-track website.

Our role in the process

We do not make any decisions on a fast-track application, but respond to requests for comment on a project at various stages of the FTAA process.

In the referral process, the Minister for Infrastructure considers and makes decisions. In the substantive process, an expert panel is appointed to consider and make decisions.

Our role in the fast-track process is to:

• provide pre-application advice to an applicant who must consult with us, before they lodge their application (referral or substantive) 
• respond to invitations to comment on applications from the Minister for Infrastructure (referral applications) and expert panels (substantive applications) as required under the FTAA throughout the application process
• provide comments on draft conditions proposed by the expert panels ahead of approvals being granted.
• handle the various approvals decided by the expert panels, along with other relevant agencies and parties, similar to how consents approved under the RMA are managed.

Consultation requirements

Before lodging your application 

Before lodging a referral or substantive application, applicants must meet pre-lodgement requirements set out in Section 11 of the FTAA.

This includes consulting with specific groups, including the relevant local authorities (region and district council), such as us.

Notification requirements under Section 30 of the FTAA

Section 30 of the FTAA requires an applicant to notify each consent authority (such as us) in writing that they do not hold existing resource consents for the same activity using some or all of the same natural resource.

Once the consent authority has received notification, it is then required to notify the applicant in writing of any existing resource consents to which section 124C(1)(c) or 165ZI of the RMA applies. This step must be completed before the substantive application can be lodged. 

What meaningful consultation looks like

We consider that for consultation to be adequate, the opportunity for input must be meaningful. This means that:

• more than a notification is required
• sufficient information about the project is required so that a full response can be provided.

There are differences in the information requirements for referral and substantive applications, which are outlined in the FTAA.

Contact us:  If your proposal is located in Canterbury and you plan to use the fast-track process, get in touch with our pre-application service. We can help you meet your consultation requirements and make the process smoother.

Costs for fast-track consultation and processing

Pre-application costs: Pre-application consultation is required by the FTAA, and we can recover all fair and reasonable costs of its consultation with applicants (including that of any consultants used to assist). Please see for further details relating to costs and charging. Please see our pre-application service page for further details relating to costs and charging.

Costs after lodging with the EPA: Once an application is lodged with the EPA (either referral or substantive), any costs resulting from us responding to the EPA’s requests are recovered from applicants by the EPA.

For full details, refer to the EPA's Fees, Charges and Cost Recovery information.