Labour’s new environment spokeswoman, Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking, said it was disappointing the councillors seemed keen to delay improvements to the region’s waterways.
Taieri MP Ingrid Leary said putting the blame on the now-ousted Labour government was a cynical ploy to dodge council responsibilities.
As council staff presented a summary of about 570 responses the council received from the public on its proposed land and water plan last week, Cr Andrew Noone asked his colleagues to reflect on the pressure put on the process by former environment minister David Parker.
Despite receiving a six-month extension on the plan, deadlines imposed on the Otago Regional Council (ORC) will make the region’s land and water plan the first in the country to include direction from the Labour-led National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 — a framework for freshwater management that is controversial in some Otago communities.
The council had been "pushed into a corner" by the minister and the timeframes he imposed on the council had compromised the quality of work that went into developing the plan, Cr Noone said.
Cr Kate Wilson also expressed frustration with the speed at which staff were required to develop the plan.
Cr Gary Kelliher said the feedback received made it plain the council had set the bar too high.
Cr Michael Laws called for staff to pause work and again ask for more time after the new government promised to replace the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020.
Ms Brooking said the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management was first made, under the Resource Management Act 1991, in 2011 and was amended in 2014, 2017 and 2020.
"The 2020 changes made by Labour to the [National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management] moved the focus from waterways being wadable to instead being swimmable.
"It is up to the regional councils to make the water plans to achieve this goal."
The issue Mr Parker originally sought to address had been the overdue replacement of historic mining permits that granted holders "unusually large" water allocations.
She was frustrated by "any sentiment that this essential work would be delayed", she said.
"The issue has been live since at least 1991 and so it is difficult to see how there can be any argument about council being ‘pushed into a corner’.
"I hope that ORC continues with its fundamental work to manage our precious waterways so that water quality improves and returns to being swimmable — for all."
Ms Leary said what was really at issue was incoming changes to water use in the hotly contested Manuherikia catchment.
"This is a cynical attempt by some councillors to dodge having to make changes to the management of Manuherikia River, which continues to be degraded because of their political agendas.
"Many generations of Kiwis have swum and fished the Manuherikia, including by the Alexandra campground.
"Others use it for irrigation, including more recently for dairying.
"The ORC has the legal responsibility and authority to manage the quantity and quality of the water, and I am confident they are up to that task."
The land and water plan is due to be notified by the end of June next year.
