The value of public consultation at this stage was questionable when the draft plan remained "so big and so hard to understand", Cr Kate Wilson said.
Crs Michael Laws and Bryan Scott argued over whether any council actions would make "a blind bit of difference" towards halting climate change.
Despite all that, the council voted 10-2 this week to seek the public’s views on its draft "Strategic Climate Action Plan" this winter.
Staff will present a final version of the plan for adoption later this year.
Chairwoman Cr Gretchen Robertson said
she supported moving the plan ahead now.
"For many years our communities have been asking for us to have leadership in this space, and we have got to this point, I don’t think it’s time to delay."
The council committed to developing the strategic climate change plan in its 2021-31 long-term plan, a staff report said.
Staff were directed to identify goals and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help Otago communities adapt to the changing climate, it said.
As a result, staff presented a suite of nearly a dozen interlinked 10-year goals for the council.
The draft plan listed more than 60 actions to achieve those goals that were already "under way or planned" at the council. It listed more than 20 "new" actions for the council to undertake as well.
Cr Kate Wilson said while the draft plan was "a good start" it needed quite a lot of work before going to public consultation.
The list of actions was "huge".
"And it’s almost scattergun without actually understanding what’s going to happen."
A prioritisation of the actions might be in order.
"Without that guidance, we’re asking people to consult on something that’s so big and so hard to understand that I’m not sure that it’s fair to ask our community to spend the time on it."
Cr Alexa Forbes said the draft was off to a "really, really good start".
"I think we have to remember there’s $650,000 for this over 10 years [in the 2024-34 long-term plan]," she said.
"We’re not talking about a big amount of money."
Cr Laws said the plan lacked any substantive mention of a "just transition".
"It’s the issue that everybody in Otago wants to know — ‘What’s it going to cost me and my family and what are the sort of choices that I am required to make, or at least have an input into in a detailed and defined way?"
Cr Laws also took issue with the amount of energy the council would put into mitigating climate change.
"I mean, there’s nothing the council can do to save the world, sorry," he said.
"There’s not a blind bit of stuff the ORC can do — nothing anybody can do in this organisation that is going to make a blind bit of difference to climate change, or to the levers that drive it either. "
Cr Bryan Scott said he "100%" disagreed with Cr Laws’ view.
"That’s absolutely BS," Cr Scott said. "We can solve this if we all take individual responsibility."
Crs Laws and Gary Kelliher voted against.
