However, chief executive Richard Saunders says there is an opportunity for the council to seek financial support for the work.
At today’s extraordinary council meeting, Mr Saunders will brief councillors on a September 12 meeting between the council’s senior leadership and Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay in Wellington.
Mr Saunders will then report on the support the council could seek from the government to deal with issues arising if the council abandoned its present October 31 target date, and did as the ministers have asked, and delay notification of the forthcoming land and water plan.
The council delegation went to Wellington with the intention of explaining its response to Ms Simmonds around the costs associated with the council’s present trajectory, and an early notification of the plan.
But Mr Saunders confirmed that explanation did not take place.
Instead, the ministers relayed several "key messages".
Among them, in recognition of the roughly $18m the council had spent on its plan to date, the ministers said they would like to reduce the cost burden for councils associated with plan making, Mr Saunders said.
There had been an offer from the ministers to work with the council on specific issues that would need to be resolved should the plan not be notified, but "no details" were discussed.
"ORC has recently met with ministers who have reiterated their strong preference that ORC does not notify a new LWRP [land and water regional plan] ahead of an update of the national policy statement for freshwater management [NPSFM].
"In addition to offering to share more details on the process to develop the new NPSFM, ministers offered to work with ORC to discuss options that may resolve some of the previously identified issues that arise should there be a pause to the LWRP process."
The council has appeared to be at odds with central government since late last year — ministers called for a pause in the council’s work programme, but a majority of councillors have directed staff to press on.
Ms Simmonds rescinded a June 30 deadline for the council’s plan that was set during an extended period of intervention by former environment minister David Parker.
She further extended the deadline for the plan to December 31, 2027, saying the new NPSFM would be reviewed within the next 18 months.
Nevertheless, in March, in a 7-5 vote councillors directed staff to continue work on the plan with only a four-month extension to the work programme.
A series of votes related to the plan have resulted in the same 7-5 split and today’s meeting has been called by the five councillors at the losing end of those votes.
Mr Saunders will recommend councillors consider directing council staff to work with government officials to identify options for government assistance to resolve the issues relating to plan change 6AA and plan change 7 if the land and water plan work programme were to be paused.
The report to the minister that was not discussed in Wellington estimated the costs of additional plan changes at "$2.3m to $2.4m each over two years", he said.
"Opportunity exists to seek financial support for these processes should they be required."
