Penny Simmonds did not order the Otago Regional Council to stop progress on its plan and bring it back to stakeholders, but yesterday said she had not ruled out intervention.
Meanwhile, the council said it was moving next week’s meeting to the 230-seat Hutton Theatre at Tūhura Otago Museum in anticipation of a larger public gallery than its council chambers could handle when councillors voted on whether to notify the plan.
Cr Kate Wilson, who co-authored the August letter to Ms Simmonds, said yesterday not all councillors understood the plan’s impact, and council staff themselves were not given the time to understand the issues "at a granular level".
"No planner’s gumboot has got dirty in the making of this plan."
The plan started with a statement emphasising Otago’s diversity, but then similar rules were rolled out throughout the region "on the basis that more plan changes will be needed as soon as the science and understanding catches up".
The "unfair and unnecessary pressure" on staff would be questioned in any other situation.
And the Section 32 evaluation report that staff were required to produce to inform the councillors’ decision on October 23 had suffered as a result.
"The s32 [Section 32 ] can only be realistically assessed if planners actually know at a granular level what is happening and the intended and unintended effects of options."
Votes related to the council’s plan have progressed with a 7-5 split among councillors and Cr Wilson along with Crs Gary Kelliher, Michael Laws, Kevin Malcolm and Andrew Noone have lost bids to delay the plan ahead of new national policy direction as recommended by Ms Simmonds.
Cr Malcolm said councillors received the 2000-plus page Section 32 report several weeks ago and had since discussed it behind closed doors.
It lacked detail, could not be clearly understood and it did not clearly reflect the actual costs associated with implementing the rules in the plan, he said.
Cr Laws said the actual economic costs of the plan were not in the report, yet the proposed minimum flow on the Manuherikia River would "eviscerate the agricultural community" and impact the entire Central Otago economy.
"Where are those costs itemised? Answer: nowhere."
Cr Kelliher said it was not just costs that rural Otago residents were facing — "it’s urban costs, too".
"We as councillors are inundated with ratepayers complaining about massive rates increases, and if this draft plan sees the light of day, rates will be further through the roof."
Crs Alexa Forbes, Lloyd McCall, Tim Mepham, Bryan Scott, Alan Somerville, Elliot Weir and chairwoman Cr Gretchen Robertson have all voted against delaying work on the plan.
Yesterday, Cr Mepham said he was comfortable with the amount of science informing the plan, the advice of staff and the level of consultation.
"The main issue, in my view, is the notification of the plan is a clash with a government that made a promise to farmers to reduce red tape — they see the LWRP [land and water plan] as red tape.
"It seems that this is a promise they would like to keep.
"It will keep their voter base happy at the expense of good environmental management, and reduced water quality."
Cr Scott said most people had existing use rights and before a rule became operative would be able to submit to an independent hearing panel on land and water plan matters, including the Section 32 economic report.
Ms Simmonds said she had made it clear her preference was the plan be paused while the national policy statement for freshwater management was reviewed.
"I am continuing to monitor the council and have not ruled out further interventions or appropriate actions to ensure the freshwater planning does not impose unnecessary costs on ratepayers."
