Consent incentive

Photo / Greg Bowker

Councils that drag the chain in processing resource consent applications face being hit in the pocket.

New regulations requiring a discount for late consent processing come into effect today.

They require a minimum 1 per cent discount for each day a consent is processed beyond the 20-working-day statutory limit, up to a maximum 50 per cent. Environment Minister Nick Smith said, "There is a real cost in jobs and economic activity in having nearly a third of all resource consents delayed."