Christchurch-West Melton Zone Committee meeting

The Christchurch-West Melton Zone Committee will meet on 26 April for its regular monthly meeting.

The committee will begin the meeting with an update on the Regional Committee. The Regional Committee released its draft Regional Implementation Programme (RIP) for public feedback in March. A series of public meetings were held around Canterbury to gather feedback and talk with locals.

The draft RIP identifies four priority issues which need to be addressed at a regional level to meet the multiple targets in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. The priority issues are: Kaitiakitanga; Ecosystem health and biodiversity; Land use and water quality; Regional infrastructure.

The Christchurch-West Melton Zone Committee will then go on to discuss its work programme for the coming months before receiving an update on the current draft Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP). A staff working draft of the LWRP is currently available for community feedback until 7 May.

The purpose of the LWRP is to identify the resource management outcomes or goals for managing land and water resources in Canterbury to achieve the purpose of the Resource Management Act (1991) (RMA). The zone committee will specifically consider how the draft plan relates to its zone.

Next the committee will receive an update from the working group that has been discussing biodiversity priorities for the zone and the approach the committee will take to allocating Immediate Steps biodiversity funding.

Immediate Steps is a $10 million programme over five years to protect and enhance biodiversity values in Canterbury. Zone Committees are responsible for allocating the funding in their area and the model also requires contributions from applicants.

The committee will finish the meeting by receiving a presentation on the pollution hotline data and how it relates to the zone.

The Christchurch-West Melton Zone Committee was formed in October 2011 and was the final of ten zone committees to be formed under the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS).

The role of the committee is to make consensus based decisions about water management in the zone. The committee meets each month to learn about the water resource in the zone and engage with community members to get their feedback.

The end goal of the committee is to develop a set of water management recommendations that will be submitted to councils in the form of a Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP).

The zone committee operates as a joint committee of Environment Canterbury, Christchurch City Council and the Selwyn District Council. It features six community members as well as three Rūnunga representatives and three from councils. The monthly meetings are open to the public.

Meeting details

Christchurch – West Melton Zone Committee meeting
6pm, Thursday 26 April 2012
Avonhead Tennis Club, in Crosbie Park off Apsley Road.

Read the agenda (831 kB)