Quality skills represented on Waimakariri Zone Committee

Six community members have been appointed to the Waimakariri Zone Committee following a thorough selection process to find the best combination of people with the skills, interests and expertise to ensure the collective strength of the committee.

They comprise the second zone committee of the 10 which will be established under the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. The first, the Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee, was launched in late June.

The six Waimakariri community members were selected from a total of 25 applications. They are Darren Mann, Grant Edge, Claire McKay, Murray Lang, Bryan Sulzberger, and Bill Wilson.

Waimakariri Mayor Ron Keating and Environment Canterbury Commissioner David Caygill are delighted by the range of values, interests and experiences the six appointees bring to the committee.

These range from riparian restoration projects on lowland streams, the design of creative storm water solutions using collaborative design processes, to experience in business, community, environmental and local body politics.

“While each member brings different strengths to the committee, they all share a common passion for the district and a desire to ensure its resources are properly managed in the interests of the community at large,” said Waimakariri Mayor Ron Keating.

Environment Canterbury Commissioner David Caygill also acknowledged the impressive and wide-ranging list of individual qualifications, accomplishments, interests and occupations.

“As a group they have the breadth and depth of expertise to work collaboratively to develop creative solutions to water management issues in the district, while addressing the priorities set out in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy,” said David Caygill.

The Selection Working Group comprised Mayor Ron Keating, Councillor Peter Farrant (Waimakariri District Council), Jill Atkinson (Director Regional Programmes, Environment Canterbury) and Wayne Holton-Jeffreys (Passenger Services Manager, Environment Canterbury.) They assessed each applicant on skills, expertise and experience, as well as their ability to work collaboratively to develop water management solutions that deliver economic, social, cultural and environmental outcomes.

The zone committee also includes Waimakariri District councillor Kevin Felstead, Environment Canterbury Commissioner Rex Williams as well as one runanga appointee from Te Ngai Tuahuriri Runanga (yet to be confirmed).

David Caygill said the Waimakariri committee represents another important step in the implementation of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

“Its role is to develop a Waimakariri Zone water management implementation programme – taking into account other zone committee programmes and the Regional Water Management Committee’s programme – to give effect to the fundamental principles and targets of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.”

David Caygill said the Environment Canterbury Commissioners wholeheartedly endorsed the implementation of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy and recognised the significance of encouraging and facilitating community input on water issues in Canterbury.

“The Environment Canterbury Commissioners also recognise the need to get the process right and to make sound, balanced decisions for the management of the natural physical resources of Canterbury.”

For further information contact:
Mayor Ron Keating
Waimakariri District Council
P: 03 313 6136
www.waimakariri.govt.nz
Nic Newman
Canterbury Water Zone Facilitator
P: 027 456 3259
DD 372-5232
www.canterburywater.org.nz
David Caygill
Environment Canterbury Commissioner
P: 027 432 5228

Committee member biographies
Darren Mann (Swannanoa)
Darren brings to the Zone Committee experience in environmental and corporate management as well as community consultation. He is the Regional Manager of Rayonier, a large forestry company with operations in Canterbury. Darren manages a team responsible for all operations and activities within the 30,000 ha Matariki Forest Canterbury Estate. He holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science degree.
Darren also has a sporting background which includes playing for the Taranaki NPC team, completing the Speights Coast to Coast, as well as running a number of marathons over the years. His current sporting focus is cycling.
Darren is married to Angela and they have 10 year old son (Jordan) and an eight-year-old daughter (Laura).

Grant Edge (Fernside)
Grant is a local businessman and landscape architect with more than 25 years practical experience in designing, planning and managing landscapes, from small residential properties to local and regional projects. He has devised creative storm water disposal solutions for waterways, parks and open spaces, commercial sites, subdivisions and roads.
He is experienced in project facilitation and community consultation and says he is very interested in the many issues impacting on both rural and urban environments. He says he takes a broader holistic approach to the management of physical and cultural resources and believes collaborative design processes are what often contribute to successful project solutions.
Grant is currently serving his fifth term on the national executive of the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects.
Grant lives and works from the family home on a 1ha property near Rangiora, and has two children attending local schools.

Claire McKay (Rangiora)
Claire is a veterinarian who with her husband has a 282 ha dairy farm on irrigated land at Cust. Claire says her involvement in their business has led to a thorough understanding of regulatory, environmental and water-related issues as well as the importance of the whole agricultural industry to the wealth of the Waimakariri district.
She believes in an equitable allocation of water and the need to drive further efficiencies in water-use and ensure reliability of supply.
Claire has been a member of the South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) since 2003, and is currently the co-ordinator of the Research and Innovation committee. She is also the SIDE farmer representative on the South Island Dairy Development Centre (SIDDC) research committee and has been on the SIDDC communications committee until recently. Claire was one of the founding conveners of the local large dairy farms discussion group in response to the need to provide support and ensure the transfer of knowledge specific to large herd management in the Waimakariri district.
Claire enjoys ski-ing, social bike riding, reading and travel.

Murray Lang (Loburn)
Murray is president of Canterbury Fruitgrowers Association and a horticulturalist on the Ashley River. Having lived in the area nearly all his life, he says he wants to contribute to the development of the district while preserving the essence of what makes it special. He and his wife, Alison, have been growing fruit at Loburn since 1979, irrigating from the Ashley River system.
Murray is also a vice president of the Horticulture Canterbury Growers Society Ltd, which represents the horticultural interests of the Canterbury region. He is also widely experienced in forest research having spent 30 years involved with alpine grassland, plantation forest nutrition, and plant and soil analysis.

Bryan Sulzberger (Rangiora)
Bryan is a businessman from Rangiora and chairman of the Central Drainage Group. He is a former Waimakariri District Councillor and also served three years as a director of Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd. During his time as a councillor he was a member of the Sewage to Sea Subcommittee which was influential in removing sewage from the Cam River.
Formerly a dairy farmer in Taranaki, Bryan ran a small sheep farm in Flaxton for a decade and has managed engineering businesses for the last 28 years.
He was heavily involved during the building of the Christchurch Convention Centre, construction of the second stage process lines at Canterbury Timber Products in Sefton, and at Nelson Pines as well as the major upgrade of the Linwood Mall.

Bill Wilson (Waikuku)
Bill is the chair of the Waikuku Water Management Group. The former sheep, cattle and cropping farmer in both the North and South Islands, he has driven riparian restoration projects on the lowland streams and in 2004 the Waikuku Water Management Group received the Canterbury Resource Management Award for Water Efficiency. He says he has enjoyed being involved in water management, riparian restoration and environmental planting in the Waikuku/Woodend area over many years and welcomes the opportunity to extend this to a broader area
Bill has a Diploma in Business Management and a Certificate in Farm Management, was an Individual Category winner in the Canterbury Resource Management Award in 2002 and won a Waimakariri District Council Community Service Award in 2007.
Bill was a member of the Waikuku/Rakahuri Coast Care group and put together the management plan for the area south of the Beach Road to SH 1.
He is married to Judy and they have three children.

Rex Williams (Environment Canterbury)
Rex Williams is the Chancellor of Canterbury University, chair of the West Coast District Health Board, chair of H W Richardson Group and an Environment Canterbury Commissioner.
Rex was the Managing Director of Holcim Cement (New Zealand) until 2007 and has more than 30 years experience in senior management positions. He has served on a number of boards and is recognised for his business acumen and governance skills.
Rex Williams was a key founder of the environmental lobby group the Water Rights Trust, which was formed in 2002 to address increasing concern about poor water management and deteriorating water quality in Canterbury. He is also a keen recreational angler and enjoys a number of outdoor sports.