Fish & Game calls out ORC on plan delay

The Otago Regional Council needs to act urgently to achieve cleaner waterways after signalling a three-year delay on a major plan ensuring rural water quality, Otago Fish & Game says.

Council staff have proposed to extend the deadline for its Plan Change 6A from April, 2020 to April, 2023.

The plan relates to the discharge of contaminants from rural land into water and was partly formulated to meet requirements of the Government's National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.

Councillors will vote on the proposal at a council meeting on Wednesday.

A Ministry for the Environment spokesman said it could not comment at this stage on whether it was concerned about the delay, as it was part of an ongoing investigation into the council.

Otago Fish & Game chief executive Ian Hadland said his organisation had "waited patiently" for water quality regulations to come into force and expected to see an improvement when they did.

"Now we're on the final stretch and it seems like the finishing line is being moved on us.

"To restore the public's faith, the ORC must demonstrate that this is not just another delay which will enable a continuation of business as usual.

"The ORC should take action, in the immediate, to keep their promise of improved water quality."

Otago Fish & Game environmental officer Nigel Paragreen said it was difficult to get information on the implementation of the plan.

"Fish & Game has been requesting stakeholder meetings and updates from the ORC for years but has consistently been held at arm's length."

The outcome might have been avoided if more effort had been put into the implementation of the plan, he said.

"Having said that, the ORC has serious issues to contend with in the plan change and solutions need to be found for those."

Landholders needed certainty in how rules would be implemented and the community needed certainty the environment would be protected and meaningful progress was being made towards improving water quality.

If all of those positive outcomes were to happen, the extension might be positive, Mr Paragreen said.