Labour environment spokeswoman and Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking said she was disappointed the council was being asked to wait on new national policies for freshwater management before notifying its plan to protect the environment.
"I am hugely disappointed that this current government is determined to roll back environmental protections and the objective of swimmable rivers," Ms Brooking said.
"I stand by my earlier comments on the matter and support the council doing what it was required to do — to get on with protecting our local rivers and streams.
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has increased pressure on the council recently, calling for further information on the costs associated with the ORC’s forthcoming land and water plan, scheduled to be ready for notification by October 31.
Since late last year, Ms Simmonds has called on the council to delay notification ahead of changes to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater ManAgement (NPSFM).
After deciding to prepare the plan for notification ahead of the changes coming into force, the council was required to report to her the "costs, benefits and implications" of notifying the plan before the new NPSFM was in place.
It did so on May 15.
Late last month, the farming sector raised concerns the council’s proposed environmental protections contained hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs.
Then, last Wednesday, Ms Simmonds ended her silence on the May 15 report, sending correspondence to the council saying she remained concerned that notifying its plan ahead of the government’s review and replacement of the current NPSFM would impose undue costs on ratepayers.
She called on the council for further information and said she expected "specific information on the costs" of the council’s proposed environmental protections on the forestry and farming sector to be included in the plan’s section 32 evaluation report.
"She is clearly overwhelmed in her reckless pursuit of removing sensible environmental protection standards.
"To make matters worse, she is overreaching in trying to browbeat the Otago Regional Council who are carrying out their designated role of protecting our local streams and rivers."
Ms Leary said it was evident some of Otago communities were concerned about the plan’s associated costs.
But the time for debating options was "when the plan in released with all the facts".
"The lack of transparency around the government’s new national policies around freshwater management is woeful and smacks of a deliberate attempt to undermine local government and local communities," she said.
The previous environment minister, Labour’s David Parker, instigated a review of the council’s freshwater plans in 2019 and found its present plan to be not fit for purpose.
The council has spent about five years preparing the upcoming land and water plan.
