Protect voting rights, improve water management performance

In the wake of the Government review of Environment Canterbury’s functions, councillors have proposed a split governance system which would protect people’s right to vote for regional councillors and also lift the council’s water management performance.

Whilst the council would continue to manage functions outside of water, a Government-appointed “commissioner advisor” would direct water management, supported by an advisory group with largely local, elected representation.

“Keeping a democratically elected council for all functions outside of water management alongside a water ‘commissioner advisor’ and group would preserve Cantabrians’ democratic right to regional representation and provide input into water management,” said Environment Canterbury chair Alec Neill.

The councillors have held a series of informal meetings in recent days to provide an alternate pathway to those suggested by the Government review panel. The large majority has endorsed the proposal to enter into a negotiated agreement with the Minister for the Environment on the delivery of water management in Canterbury.

This would ensure that Canterbury ratepayers would vote for regional representatives in the October Local Government elections, and there would be no need for the Government to pass special legislation.

“The councillors’ proposal would protect the local vote as well as acknowledging the Government’s requirement for faster and better tools and systems for managing water,” said Environment Canterbury chairman Alec Neill. “The council, like the Government, also wants to meet expectations and lift performance in water management.”

South Canterbury Cr Bronwen Murray said that given New Zealanders live in a democracy, the right to elect local government representatives should be sacrosanct. This was a key reason why she was supporting the councillors’ proposal.

The letter and outline proposal were sent to Government Ministers Rodney Hide (Local Government) and Dr Nick Smith (Environment) yesterday. It was to be considered by a central Government group composed of Ministers Hide and Smith as well as Canterbury MPs Kate Wilkinson, David Carter and Gerry Brownlee before going to Cabinet.

It proposes that the Government:

• Appoints one “commissioner advisor” to run the Resource Management Act functions around water in Canterbury. The commissioner advisor would review planning operations and ensure resource consents were able to be processed within statutory timeframes.
• In addition, the commissioner advisor would be given delegated authority from the council to implement the review group recommendations in relation to the Local Government Act functions.
• To support the commissioner advisor, an advisory group would be set up comprising the chairperson of Environment Canterbury, one representative of Ngai Tahu, one member of the Canterbury mayoral forum, two members of the Local Government NZ Regional Affairs Committee (unitary council and regional council mayors, chairs and chief executives), as well as the commissioner advisor.

“The commissioner advisor and advisory group would remain until the Government was satisfied the council was ready to resume its full range of responsibilities,” said Cr Neill.

Key advantages of the proposal included the ability to provide a transition to broader organisational change in a collaborative way and ensuring the strongly supported Canterbury Water Management Strategy would continue to be rolled out.

The proposal outlines a fast-tracking approach to the long-awaited water chapters of the Natural Resources Regional Plan and the Regional Policy Statement; a review of the council’s planning and consenting functions; criteria and capability/capacity to meet RMA statutory timeframes for resource consents processing; implementing LGA recommendations in the review group report; progressing the Canterbury Water Management Strategy by establishing zonal committees, a water executive and status under the RMA for the implementation programmes; as well as a review of iwi liaison functions with appropriate resourcing.

For further information: All councillors are available for comment: see phone list on website page http://ecan.govt.nz/about-us/your-council/Pages/your-councillors.aspx