The Otago Regional Council will ask Environment Minister David Parker for an extension on its forthcoming land and water plan.
The comprehensive plan is due to be notified by the end of next year.
It is expected to give the council a fit-for-purpose water plan, a requirement for the council after a harsh review several years ago.
Councillors yesterday approved the council’s fifth update to Mr Parker since agreeing to recommendations which sprang from the 2019 investigation by Prof Peter Skelton.
However, councillors also called for chairman Cr Andrew Noone to ask Mr Parker to "consider having a discussion with council on a longer timeframe to notify the land and water plan".
The call for an extension came as councillors said they were concerned a recent staff update indicated the council’s preceding planning document, the proposed regional policy statement, would be held up in High Court proceedings between the council and Forest & Bird for much longer than first anticipated.
Mr Noone said he recalled the number of times councillors had sat around the council table and staff had noted the time pressure Mr Parker’s deadlines were putting them under,
"I think it’s a duty of ours to at least raise this," Cr Noone said.
Cr Kate Wilson said trying to put a land and water plan in place without first finishing the overarching policy statement was a mistake.
However, chief executive Sarah Gardner said to ask for an extension at this stage could also be a mistake in the minister’s eyes.
The council had "really pushed" its stakeholders to engage on a plan with the present deadlines in place.
Further, there was potentially "a direct disadvantage" to those people whose consents were granted under the recently operative deemed water permits plan change.
Under that plan change (plan change 7), also a requirement of Mr Parker, permit holders were converting their water permits into interim short-term consents.
The controversial six-year term those water users were granted was designed to dovetail with the new land and water plan, she said.
And a delay could result in those consents again needing to be processed.
Mrs Gardner said the council’s long-term plan work programme was designed around the timeframes required by Mr Parker.
Further, any extension would only be for 12 months.
"We should remember that while we have a 2023 deadline the rest of the country has a 2024 deadline."
Cr Bryan Scott questioned the motivation in asking for an extension.
"There’s always been this argument about delay, delay, delay and environmental degradation continues."
Crs Scott and Alexa Forbes voted against the motion.
Cr Gretchen Robertson sent apologies.
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Comments
The Permit holders in question and ORC were told in 1991 that under the RMA the permits would expire in 2021. ORC has had more than 30 years to sort this! Five years ago ORC was on track to fulfil this task. However, the Executive dismissed the key staff who were managing this process. Since then ORC has doubled our rates, doubled the number of staff, wasted millions of dollars, lost all credibility and extended the time to process Permits. Now they are scratching for excuses to get more time? As failure mounts on failure the only tangible solution is the dismissal of the Executive and the appointment of Commissioners
All we are hearing are more pathetic excuses and an attempt to pull the wool over the Environment Minister’s eyes! More incompetency from a hopeless Council!
Another day and another fiasco from the ORC Policy team. Of course they should wait until the Policy Statement is complete as suggested by one smart Councillor, how can the water plan be informed by something that hasnt endured submissions, hearings and the certain environment court case??? Gross incompetence costing ratepayers millions on wasted folly projects.
Perhaps ORC needs to employ professional Policy Planners? The majority do not have any planning qualifications. They are in good company with unqualified managers and executive. Otago ratepayers have been deceived into believing ORC knows what it is doing, but the truth is becoming obvious through their inability to manage basic Council functions.