North Canterbury News: August 24, 2023

OPINION
6 The North Canterbury News, August 24, 2023
Mayor Marie Black
Long Term Plan time
significant for district
Abusytimelinefor the Long TermPlan
(LTP).
Mostweeks willfind your councillors
in meetings to preparethe LongTerm
Plan.
Thisisasignificant piece of work
which must promote currentand future
interestsofthe district.
Eachactivity will consider the
distributionofbenefits between
community or individuals withinthe
community,the periodand extent of
which the benefits are expectedto
occur, along with thecost for current
and futuresocial, economic,
environmental and cultural wellbeing.
At present we are looking at
community outcomes —for our halls,
parks,reserves and playgrounds,
township maintenanceand
development, medical buildings, social
housing, cemeteries, publictoilets,
libraries, sewerage,water services,
stormwater,roads, footpaths, waste
minimisation, buildingconsents,
animal control and liquor licensing.
Thiscomprehensive but not
complete listneeds to considerabroad
distributionofbenefits to makecertain
the Hurunui is adesirable and safe
place to live, with essential and
appropriate infrastructure.
Arecentlypublished environmental
scan, presented to thestrategy and
community committee,stated that
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underpinningall emerging issues is the
topic of affordability.
Witharelatively small population,
and arating base of around 8000
rateable properties,thereisan
ongoingchallengetofund and provide
servicesand facilitiesatanaffordable
rate.
As people move outfromlarger
urban centres, there is often ahigher
expectation of the level of service
council shouldbedelivering, which is
not alwayspossiblegiven the limited
budget.
In providing coreinfrastructure
services, council mustbalance the
standard against cost, while complying
withlegislative and consenting
requirementsasaminimum.
There are many opportunities when
under takinganin­depth analysis of
the district,someofwhich include
sharingservices with other local
authorities.
Or considerthe reduction of service
and understandingthe financial
challenges to maintain roads,and
upgrade 280 bridges andother highcostitems,
alongside thelegislation
and regulationthatintroduce
unforeseen costs.Wewillbelooking to
bring peopletogether to solve these
complexlocalissues, to build asafer,
healthier and environmentally
sustainable Hurunuidistrict.
Having asay in the future
By DAVID HILL,
Local Democracy Reporter
Cantabrians have beentaking an interest
in the region’s future.
EnvironmentCanterburyhas been
pleased with the response to datetoits
‘‘What’s OurFuture, Canterbury?’’
campaign,which closes on Sunday,August
27.
In areport to last week’s council
meeting, chairperson Peter Scottsaid
therehad been goodnumbers of people
attending public forums throughoutthe
region.
Therehad also been good numbers of
people signinginto onlinewebinars.
EnvironmentCanterburystaff had met
with staff from each of Canterbury’s 10
territorial local authorities,with more
meetings planned, he said.
Cr Scott said information collected from
the consultation would help to inform the
council as it worked on next year’s2024/34
Long Term and reviewed the Canterbury
Regional Policy Statement.
Other councillors said they had been
impressed with the turnout to events in
their communities.
The consultation looked at six key areas
including:water, land, climatechange, air,
coastal environmentsand the built
environment. To givefeedbackgotoecan.
govt.nz/ourfuture.
Public interest journalismfunded
through New Zealand on Air.
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Fears for the loss
of local voices
By DAVID HILL,
LocalDemocracy Reporter
North Canterbury council leaders
fearlocal voices could be lostinthe
government’s Resource Management
Act reforms.
Hurunui, Waimakariri and
Kaikōura District Council leaders
say the expected move to regional
planningcouldmake it harder for
local people to havetheir say.
The SpatialPlanningBill andthe
Natural and Built EnvironmentBill
passed through thethird reading in
Parliamentlast week andwereset to
becomelaw.
Athird piece of legislation tackling
climatechangeisalso in the
pipeline.
Hurunui Mayor Marie Blacksays
the legislation setout anew planning
regime which aimed to cutdownthe
number of plans councilsare
requiredtoproducebygetting them
to worktogether.
‘‘The issue facing our district is,
althoughthe scope andscale will
reduce the number of plans, it will
also distance communities and
removetheir voice with plans taking
aregionalapproach.’’
Environment Minister David
Parker saysthe new legislation will
makethe process ‘‘faster,cheaper
and better’’.
The newlegislationislikely to take
up to 10 years to come into effect, and
willbeintroduced regionbyregion.
October’sgeneralelection could
leadtofurther changes, if there is a
changeofgovernment.
Among the proposed changesisa
move from districtplans to aregional
plan, in abid to simplify theprocess.
In Canterbury it wouldmeanone
regional planningdocument to
replacethe existing regionalplan
and10district plans.
Hurunui DistrictCouncilchief
executiveHamish Dobbieaccepts
changeisneeded, buthehas
concernslocalvoicescouldbelostin
aregionalplanningprocess.
‘‘Thelossofalocalvoice is areal
negative.’’
He questionedhow replacing the
RMAwith threemuchlarger pieces
of legislation will simplify the
process.
In the meantime,MrDobbiesays
hiscouncil is pressing aheadwith its
South Ward SpatialPlan,which
includedAmberleyand surrounding
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towns.
WaimakaririDistrictCouncilchief
executive JeffMillward says his
council supported legislation which
ledtobetterplanningand
environmental outcomes.
‘‘We will taketime to go through
thebilland will be makingadetailed
submissiontothe selectcommittee
andworkingthisthroughcouncilin
thecoming months. Our initial
reactionisthatwedon’t think
regionalisationisrequired. We
currentlywork wellaspartofthe
Greater Christchurch Partnership,
andthisdelivers on alot of the
desired outcomeswhile retaining
localdecisionmaking and say.’’
Mr Millward says hiscouncilis
pressing ahead withits proposed
WaimakaririDistrictPlan,which
wasnotified in 2021.
Thecouncil is alsoworking closely
with theChristchurch CityCouncil,
SelwynDistrict Council,
EnvironmentCanterburyand its
otherpartners to developaGreater
Christchurch Spatial Plan.
KaikōuraDistrictCouncil chief
executive WillDoughtysayshe
wouldlike to see across­party
agreement on resource management
planning to avoid the uncertainty
with an election looming.
‘‘It is notagooduse of time, money
andresources, if anew government
spendsits first three years up­ending
what’s beendone.’’
Mr Doughty says hiscouncil is
focusedonits own work,including
workingonits Kaikōura spatial plan
andnext year’s2024/34LongTerm
Plan.‘‘The advicewe’vehad is ‘don’t
throwaway thecopy of the RMA yet’,
because it willtake timeto
implement and thereislikely to be
changes.’’
Public interest journalism funded
through NewZealandonAir.
Swell
Pegasus Bay
Tide Chart
3
2
E0.9 m E0.9 m E1.0 m E1.0 m E1.1 m E1.1 m E1.0 m
3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9
1
0
Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows
Waimakariri 10:13am 2.1 3:56am 0.7 11:04am 2.2 4:46am 0.7 11:57am 2.2 5:37am 0.6 12:21am 2.1 6:31am 0.6 1:17am 2.2 7:27am 0.5 2:13am 2.3 8:24am 0.4 3:09am 2.4 9:22am 0.3
Mouth
10:35pm 2.0 4:28pm 0.8 11:27pm 2.1 5:23pm 0.7
6:20pm 0.7 12:54pm 2.3 7:15pm 0.6 1:51pm 2.4 8:10pm 0.5 2:47pm 2.5 9:05pm 0.4 3:42pm 2.6 9:59pm 0.3
Amberley 10:13am 2.1 3:56am 0.7 11:04am 2.2 4:46am 0.7 11:57am 2.2 5:37am 0.6 12:21am 2.1 6:31am 0.6 1:17am 2.2 7:27am 0.5 2:13am 2.3 8:24am 0.4 3:09am 2.4 9:22am 0.3
Beach
10:35pm 2.0 4:28pm 0.8 11:27pm 2.1 5:23pm 0.7
6:20pm 0.7 12:54pm 2.3 7:15pm 0.6 1:51pm 2.4 8:10pm 0.5 2:47pm 2.5 9:05pm 0.4 3:42pm 2.6 9:59pm 0.3
10:22am 2.1 4:05am 0.7 11:13am 2.2 4:55am 0.7
5:46am 0.6 12:30am 2.1 6:40am 0.6 1:26am 2.2 7:36am 0.5 2:22am 2.3 8:33am 0.4 3:18am 2.4 9:31am 0.3
Motunau 10:44pm 2.0 4:37pm 0.8 11:36pm 2.1 5:32pm 0.7 12:06pm 2.2 6:29pm 0.7 1:03pm 2.3 7:24pm 0.6 2:00pm 2.4 8:19pm 0.5 2:56pm 2.5 9:14pm 0.4 3:51pm 2.6 10:08pm 0.3
10:24am 2.1 4:07am 0.7 11:15am 2.2 4:57am 0.7
5:48am 0.6 12:32am 2.1 6:42am 0.6 1:28am 2.2 7:38am 0.5 2:24am 2.3 8:35am 0.4 3:20am 2.4 9:33am 0.3
Gore Bay 10:46pm 2.0 4:39pm 0.8 11:38pm 2.1 5:34pm 0.7 12:08pm 2.2 6:31pm 0.7 1:05pm 2.3 7:26pm 0.6 2:02pm 2.4 8:21pm 0.5 2:58pm 2.5 9:16pm 0.4 3:53pm 2.6 10:10pm 0.3
10:21am 1.5 4:06am 0.4 11:12am 1.5 4:53am 0.4
5:42am 0.4 12:30am 1.5 6:35am 0.3 1:23am 1.5 7:29am 0.2 2:17am 1.6 8:25am 0.2 3:12am 1.6 9:22am 0.1
Kaikoura 10:46pm 1.4 4:38pm 0.4 11:38pm 1.4 5:33pm 0.4 12:05pm 1.6 6:28pm 0.3 1:00pm 1.6 7:22pm 0.3 1:56pm 1.7 8:16pm 0.2 2:51pm 1.8 9:09pm 0.2 3:46pm 1.8 10:03pm 0.1
*Not for navigational purposes. Wind and swell are based on apoint off Gore Bay. Maori Fishing Guide by Bill Hohepa. www.ofu.co.nz www.tidespy.com Graphic supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd.
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