Those targets were determined several months ago and agreed by councillors (in draft form) but only released to the public late last year. This despite Feds and others raising concerns about the drip feed of this information to some, without public release. We did not believe that was ethical or fair.
Chairman Nicol Horrell met with the Southland Feds exec in November and discussed this issue again. Yet again, the conversation alluded to "big numbers" but didn’t disclose the actual numbers, and the exec were advised that the numbers would become public in the "next few days". Nothing further was heard and the first public statement that we are aware of about the release of these numbers occurred on December 30 last year — insulting timing in our view, seemingly intentional to avoid attention.
We have called ES out over this and their statements have been saying that the information had been available for some time. That may be so, but it wasn’t publicised. Generally when important information is released, they let everyone know. But they didn’t see fit to do that until right in the midst of the Christmas/New Year period. Gotta wonder who made that decision ...
We have a number of concerns about these "draft" targets which will require enormous nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and E coli load reductions in Southland’s rivers, lakes and estuaries. One of our big concerns is the way in which the targets were derived.
Environment Southland say the targets came from community consultation – in particular the Share Your Wai campaign (remember the stands at A&P shows, Field Days and other events). The problem is, when we had a cuppa and a chat about which waterways we felt connected to and how we liked to interact with them, we had no idea how the information was going to be used.
We certainly didn’t know that would be interpreted as a desire to regain pre-settlement water quality throughout Southland without consideration of what that might cost us as a province. We believe these targets are utterly unrealistic in the face of the permanent modifications that have been made, including flood banks and land reclamation in Invercargill.
The way this process has been conducted risks undermining efforts undertaken and planned by farmers to improve water quality. Huge targets like these will also reduce the confidence that other businesses and financiers require to invest and participate in the rural sector.
Environment Southland tell us that the targets are not final. We intend to hold them to that. Further consultation is essential.
Chairman Horrell has stated that since he has been at the helm, the relationship between Feds and ES has improved, and that is absolutely true. We value open communication with people at all levels of the organisation and do not take that for granted. However, that does not mean we won’t call them out when necessary. And right now, we’re wondering if the tail is wagging the dog within ES. Now is the time for honesty, transparency and some hard conversations. We’re ready.
-Chris Dillon
