Central Hawke’s Bay District Council exploring solar power opportunities for generating renewable energy

Hawkes Bay Today

1 Mar, 2026 11:49 PMQuick Read

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Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Will Foley said making it easier to install systems without resource consent saves money and time. Photo / Central Hawke’s Bay District Council

Central Hawke’s Bay District Council is consulting with the community about making it easier for farms, businesses and landowners to generate their own renewable energy.

The council has proposed changes that align with the Government’s recent National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Generation, which means landowners and businesses would
no longer need to apply for resource consent to install small-scale solar generation systems that power their own site.

Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Will Foley said the change was about making it easier for people to generate their own electricity.

“Based on feedback previously from our community and aligning with current solar uptake, our current rules around renewable energy were too restrictive,” Foley said.

“Making it easier to install systems without resource consent makes sense, improves resilience and saves money and time.