However, it is common for consent holders to overlook the importance of regularly reviewing their consents. By neglecting to review consents from time to time, we risk non-compliance and also risk an opportunity to ensure the consents are appropriate for what we want to be doing.

It is essential to ensure that consents are accurate and up to date. A periodic review of your consents will enable an assessment of whether they still reflect your current needs, and whether there is on-going compliance with all conditions. Reviewing consents can also reveal potential issues that need to be addressed before they escalate into problems.

A review can identify areas where there may not be full compliance, allowing us to take corrective action before regulators intervene. Consents are not set in stone, and they can be amended to better reflect the needs of the farming operation. If changes are required, they can be made without the risk of losing what the consent already authorises or giving regulators the opportunity to impose unrelated conditions.

Aqualinc offers a consent Warrant of Fitness (WOF) service, which reviews consents to ensure that they are still enabling the farming operation to do what is needed. This process also considers what may be required when replacing the consent and identifies what can be done now to help with the renewal process.

It is important to remember that consents have an expiry date. If a consent is not renewed in time, the farming operation could be left without the necessary permissions to carry out essential activities. By periodically reviewing our consents, we can ensure that we are aware of when they are due to expire and plan accordingly to renew them.