Submissions open June 18 on management of Canterbury's resources, the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement

Environment Canterbury commissioners have resolved to notify and call for submissions on the Proposed Canterbury Regional Policy Statement on June 18. This planning instrument sets the framework for resource management in Canterbury for the next 10 to 15 years and will give legal weight to the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

The proposed Canterbury Regional Policy Statement (RPS) provides an overview of the significant resource management issues facing the region and how best to manage them.

Commissioner Peter Skelton, at this week’s monthly council meeting, said submissions on Canterbury’s RPS would be important to ensure the organisation produces a comprehensive policy framework for the region.

“The past 10 years have seen significant social, cultural and economic growth across our region. Canterbury’s natural resources, such as its water, landscape and nutrient rich soils, are important to our region’s economy and their significance to the national economy continues to grow.

“This growth puts pressure on the region’s natural resources and more recently the region has also been challenged by two major earthquakes. We are committed to developing a regional policy statement that provides robust objectives, policies and methods to address the resource management issues the region is facing.

“We welcome submissions from the wider public to guide this process. This is the public’s opportunity to help shape and improve the planning framework for the benefit of this and future generations,” he said.

A draft Canterbury RPS, the result of four years’ work which included extensive consultation with Canterbury local authorities and Ngāi Tahu, was released in September 2010 for a first round of public input. The proposed Canterbury RPS has been updated with this feedback in mind and it also provides the first step in setting the Canterbury Water Management Strategy within the Resource Management Act planning framework.

“Since we last reviewed this policy statement the Canterbury Water Management Strategy has begun to be implemented with significant community input and support. Seven out of ten zone committees have been established and progress is being made towards establishing the remaining three.

“The freshwater chapter of this policy statement sets out expectations that regional and district plans will support the implementation of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy,” said Peter Skelton.

People who took part in providing input into the draft in 2010 and want to stay involved in the statutory process must make a submission on the proposed document.

Submissions on the Proposed Canterbury Regional Policy Statement will open Saturday, June 18 and close August 15, 2011. The document will be available on the Environment Canterbury website (www.ecan.govt.nz), Environment Canterbury offices, public libraries throughout the region, and available free on a CD from Environment Canterbury customer services (ecinfo@ecan.govt.nz, phone 0800 324 636 or 03 353 9007). A hard copy will also be available for purchase from Environment Canterbury.

Feedback can be provided through the online submission form at www.ecan.govt.nz/rpsreview, in writing, or by e-mail to mailroom@ecan.govt.nz.

Note:

The Proposed Regional Policy Statement Proposed Change 1 (Urban Development Strategy) is not connected to this process. It is undergoing a separate process and will eventually form Chapter 5 of the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement.