{"id":365922,"date":"2026-04-06T07:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/365922\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T07:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:16:17","slug":"rotorua-lake-businesses-blindsided-by-decade-old-resource-consent-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/365922\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua lake businesses blindsided by decade-old resource consent rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rotorua<\/p>\n

\nRotorua Lakes Council unearthed a resource consent change from a decade ago last year.
\nPhoto: Rotorua Daily Post\n<\/p>\n

More than a dozen Rotorua businesses operating on some of the district’s most iconic lakes have been told they may be in breach of planning rules after a little-known, decade-old provision resurfaced.<\/p>\n

The cost and time involved in meeting the previously unenforced standards have some operators questioning whether they can continue.<\/p>\n

A liquor licence application from the new owners of Rotorua’s relaunched dining cruiser, the Lakeland Queen paddleboat, last year brought the issue to light.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

It revealed that all operators running commercial enterprises on lakes in Rotorua’s Water Zone, including Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti, must obtain a resource consent.<\/p>\n

The rule arises from District Plan changes in 2016, but has largely gone unenforced until recently.<\/p>\n

It does not apply to lakes in the Lakes A Zone, which includes Lakes Tarawera, Tikitapu (Blue Lake), Rotok\u0101kahi (Green Lake), \u014ck\u0101reka and \u014ckataina.<\/p>\n

But for the past 10 years, many businesses have been operating on impacted lakes, unaware they were in breach of this rule.<\/p>\n

Rotorua Trout Guide owner Julian Danby is one such operator.<\/p>\n

He received a letter from Rotorua Lakes Council in March saying he had 14 days to provide evidence he had either begun the process for, or had submitted an application for, a resource consent.<\/p>\n

\"Rotorua<\/p>\n

\nRotorua Trout Guide, Julian Danby (right) says he may need to consider abandoning the impacted lakes. Photo \/ Supplied
\nPhoto: Rotorua Daily Post\n<\/p>\n

Danby told Local Democracy Reporting he is a “one-man team” and the cost and time involved in getting a resource consent meant he may have to consider his options.<\/p>\n

“I’ll probably have to cease operating on Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti and diversify the business,” he said.<\/p>\n

He estimated his costs to obtain the consent could reach about $10,000.<\/p>\n

Danby said the only other conversation he had with the council regarding the issue was a phone call seven months ago.<\/p>\n

He had spoken to other operators likely to be impacted, who all expressed the same concerns.<\/p>\n

“It’s bonkers,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got the best lake in New Zealand for trout fishing and essentially, there’s going to be no charters available on it because of this legislation issue.”<\/p>\n

In his view, the council was “just clipping the ticket”.<\/p>\n

\"Julian<\/p>\n

\nJulian Danby’s trout fishing guide business on Lake Rotorua will be impacted by the new enforcement of a consent rule.
\nPhoto: LDR\/supplied\n<\/p>\n

Local Democracy Reporting spoke to several other operators who did not want to be named, concerned speaking out may negatively impact future dealings with the council.<\/p>\n

One described the consent cost as an “existential risk” to the business, while others said they were still waiting to hear from the council.<\/p>\n

Dustin Halidone operates DustyRyders, a jet ski rental service on Lake Rotoiti.<\/p>\n

He said he had heard nothing from the council regarding a resource consent for his operations.<\/p>\n

He has already “spent thousands” of dollars getting his Maritime New Zealand certification, which he believed gave him the right to operate.<\/p>\n

Maritime NZ certification governs safety, while resource consents relate to water use under council planning rules.<\/p>\n

“As far as I know, I’m not doing anything wrong,” Halidone said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve never heard of any sort of consent being needed from the council.<\/p>\n

“I’ll keep going, and hopefully they don’t come and sting us.”<\/p>\n

\"Rotorua<\/p>\n

\nRotorua Lakes Council district development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston.
\nPhoto: Rotorua Daily Post\/Laura Smith\n<\/p>\n

Council destination and development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston confirmed nine operators were informed of the issue last year, shortly after the Lakeland Queen application revealed the consenting issue.<\/p>\n

Since then, a further five have been contacted. All 14 received letters giving them 14 days to provide proof of application or their intention to apply.<\/p>\n

The council had “identified all operators” it knew of “at this time”.<\/p>\n

“This process is about ensuring operators are meeting all requirements,” Gaston said.<\/p>\n

“We are happy to meet with operators and give them guidance while they begin the consenting process.”<\/p>\n

He could not confirm whether operators were made aware when the District Plan changes were initially reviewed in 2012.<\/p>\n

He said it was “not uncommon” for resource management provisions to go unused for long periods.<\/p>\n

“Our priority has been to ensure that anyone who may be affected is contacted directly by the council,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We will work with anyone affected to address any consenting requirements.”<\/p>\n

Operators would not be required to cease operations while they worked through consenting requirements.<\/p>\n

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rotorua Lakes Council unearthed a resource consent change from a decade ago last year. Photo: Rotorua Daily Post…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365923,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":["post-365922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}