Government moves aimed at streamlining environmental and development decision-making could help the nation become more productive and get things moving quicker, Cr Lee Vandervis suggested.
He also responded to concern expressed by Cr Jim O’Malley that some government moves — speeding up consenting and seemingly curbing some environmental protection — might take New Zealand back 30 years.
"I agree with him and think we should jump back 30 years," Cr Vandervis said.
This was because New Zealand had one of the lowest rates of productivity in the OECD, he said.
He did not believe government reform would harm environmental protection and it was "to everybody’s cost that we don’t allow anything with any degree of rapidity", Cr Vandervis said.
Cr O’Malley said the government seemed to be on a drive to "speed up activities at the cost of environmental protection".
"You really can’t come back from environmental damage," he said.
The context for their debate was a draft submission by the council about the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
The council’s submission expresses concern about matters such as the proposed consenting pathway for coal mining and suspension of a requirement for councils to map and impose "significant natural areas" for three years.
It had worries about allowing coal mining in natural inland wetlands.
The submission was approved by the council this week, but Cr Vandervis voted against it.
The political fight in the next little while would be to moderate examples of excess, he said.
The "rush to abandon" significant natural areas could have "appalling, far-reaching consequences", Cr Benson-Pope said.
Cr Steve Walker said wetlands were "literally the lungs of the world".
"To coal-mine next to our lungs is simply dumb," he said.
Cr Carmen Houlahan said it was important to be careful with the natural environment and she was worried about the potential for a lack of proper consultation.
The public seemed to be getting "less and less say", she said.
Cr Christine Garey said visitors to the area loved getting out into nature.
It could take decades to undo damage and impediments to local advocacy were a concern, she said.
"We need to advocate for our environment."
