Contact the Fast-track team

Please contact the Fast-track team for access to the application portal. Before contacting the team, please make sure you’ve read about the process and confident you’re ready to apply.

Process overview

You’ll find more information and links to useful guides for application portal users here on the Fast-track website:

Using the application portal

If you still need assistance, please call our contact centre team on 0800 FASTRK (0800 327875) or email contact@fasttrack.govt.nz  

Only people and organisations specified in the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 (Act) can comment on an application. The Act does not allow panels to give public or limited notification for comments.  

The Fast-track team, on behalf of the expert panel, will invite relevant people or organisations to comment on an application at the appropriate time.  

Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 No 56, Public Act Opportunity for comment on substantive application – New Zealand Legislation  

Projects can be listed or referred to the Fast-track process. Projects listed in the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 (Act) don’t need referral and can go straight to the substantive application. Other projects need referral before making a substantive application.  

Projects listed in the Act:  

Listed projects – Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 –New Zealand Legislation website 

Referral applications  

The Minister for Infrastructure decides whether to accept projects for referral to the Fast-track.  There are specified criteria for assessing a referral application. For example, the Minister may consider whether a project will increase the supply of housing, address housing needs, or contribute to a well-functioning urban environment. 

Referral application to use the Fast-track

Substantive applications  

Expert panels make the decisions to approve or refuse consents and whether to impose conditions.  

The Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 specifies other requirements for making a decision, including the opportunity for panels to transfer certain decisions to the appropriate Minister, or for the appropriate Minister to ‘call in’ the decision taking into account the panel’s advice. 

The Fast-track team provides administrative support to the panel. We are not involved in the decision-making process for approvals.  

Substantive application for resource consents and other approvals 

The Minister for Infrastructure can determine that a project is a priority project, either on their own initiative or if the applicant requests. This request must be made:

• after paying any outstanding fees or costs

• before making the substantive application.

Applying for priority for a Fast-track substantive application

The Ministry for the Environment handles these requests.

We publish a variety of other information about projects. We usually publish referral application documents when the referral process is complete. We publish substantive application documents as soon as possible.

You can find all the available information on the appropriate pages of this website, linked from the landing page for each project. Some information is removed from published documents (redacted) in accordance with the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 and Privacy Act 2020.

Official Information Act requests and accessing our information

If the panel intends to decline an approval, they must first provide their draft decision to the applicant, and other parties specified in the Act.

The applicant can:

• propose conditions or modify the approvals sought to address the panel’s reasons for decline

• withdraw parts of the application.

After considering the applicant’s proposal and any ministerial input, the panel may:

• uphold the draft decline, resulting in a final decision to decline

• approve the revised proposal, provided it is within scope of the substantive application.

Draft decisions on approvals – Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 – New Zealand Legislation website

Substantive application for resource consents and other approvals