The council, said in a statement, it has written to the city and district councils, KiwiRail and New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi to explain the rules in the Southland water and land plan that apply to gravel extraction around structures in rivers like bridges.
It also confirmed Environment Southland’s approach to written approvals when resource consents were required.
Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell said there had been questions raised about whether gravel can be removed around existing structures without first obtaining a resource consent.
"It’s important to be able to clarify our rules as this means those agencies responsible for managing structures in rivers can deal with gravel affecting them with confidence."
Good gravel management supports the resilience of structures in rivers, which was important during times of high river flows and floods and also stopped the gravel moving and causing problems elsewhere.
Ensuring gravel and its impacts were managed was part of Environment Southland’s approach to river management, which aimed to keep river channels clear and to protect and stabilise riverbanks.
Under the rules in the Southland water and land plan, gravel can be removed to support the maintenance of structures without resource consent, providing certain conditions were met.
The letter clarified when written approvals were required for consent applications.
The council also confirmed that if resource consent was required for gravel extraction, it would consider who the affected parties were and determine who needed to be notified, on a case-by-case basis.
"We’re here to help
"Our consents team is available to discuss what’s required in any application before it’s lodged and offers pre-application meetings, as well."— APL
