What is an enforcement notice?

If we discover that you have carried out work that would have required EIA consent, or have breached the conditions of EIA consent, we can enter your land to verify this and we may serve you with an enforcement notice. 

An enforcement notice is a legal document. It's an offence not to comply with an enforcement notice or to continue work on an EIA forestry project if we have asked you to stop. If you're convicted of an offence you will be liable to a fine.

Who can be served an enforcement notice?

An enforcement notice can be served to:

  • the person or contractor carrying out the work
  • the property owner
  • any people who have sufficient interest in the property (allowing them to carry out the work without the need to get permission from anyone else)

What does an enforcement notice say? 

The enforcement notice will tell you to stop work in relation to the forestry project with immediate effect. It'll also include one or more of the following measures:

  1. apply to us for consent
  2. restore the land to the condition it was in before any work on the project was carried out
  3. carry out any work on the land that is reasonably necessary to ensure the terms of the consent are complied with
  4. remove or reduce any damage to the environment that has been caused by the project

What are the timescales of an enforcement notice?

The enforcement notice will state the timescale during which any of the measures specified in the above list must be taken. Different timescales may be given for different measures.