Proposed Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan to be notified

The proposed Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan will be publicly notified on Saturday October 1, 2011, the same day the moratoria on consents for the Hurunui and Waiau rivers ends.

“This plan is significant as it is the first prepared to align with the vision and principles of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy,” said Environment Canterbury Commissioner David Caygill.

“It is also the first regional plan in Canterbury which sets specific rules on dealing with the cumulative effects of non-point source discharges – resulting from the more intensive use of rural land in the Hurunui catchment.

“The ending of the moratoria on the Hurunui and Waiau rivers is also significant. These were imposed last year to allow time for a number of overlapping council planning processes to proceed in an orderly manner.

“The proposed Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan was developed by Environment Canterbury in parallel with a programme of water management recommendations prepared by a community-led committee in the Hurunui-Waiau zone.”

“The zone committee recommended an integrated approach to the development and management of water resources in the area, as a way to achieve social, environmental, cultural, and economic outcomes.”

The recommendations from the zone committee, which have been addressed in the Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan, covered: ecosystem health and biodiversity; braided rivers; drinking water; kaitiakitanga; Waiau, Hurunui Waipara and Conway/Tutae river flows; water allocation and water use efficiency; water quality including nutrient load limits and community and land-user initiatives; economic development from more water; and recreation.

The Hurunui-Waiau zone committee is one of 11 set up to reach community consensus on local water management issues, as part of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

“The committee began working in July 2010 to understand local water issues and has achieved outstanding progress in reaching consensus on water management issues in the Hurunui-Waiau zone,” said David Caygill.

On August 25, 2011 the committee provided its 66 recommendations – contained in its zone implementation programme – to Environment Canterbury and Hurunui District Council.

Environment Canterbury received the recommendations “as the basis for the design and realignment of work programmes, for drafting regional plan provisions, and for preparation of a draft Long Term Plan”.

The proposed Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan sits alongside the operative Canterbury Natural Resources Regional Plan and provides specific rules for managing water and the cumulative effects of land use in the Hurunui-Waiau zone.

The proposed Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan is now open for public submissions. There is a formal process which will be followed by a hearing conducted by a panel of independent hearings commissioners who will be appointed by the Regional Council to report and make recommendations on the submissions.

Submissions on the plan are open until Friday December 2, 2011. More information is available here.

Environment Canterbury is holding a series of community meetings in the week beginning October 17 to provide information and answer questions on the proposed Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan.

Meeting dates (all start at 7.30pm)

Monday October 17 - Waiau
Tuesday October 18 - Cheviot
Wednesday October 19 - Culverden
Thursday October 20 - Amberley

Meeting locations will be advertised in local newspapers.