Nor'West News: February 22, 2024

6 The
OPINION
North Canterbury News, February 22, 2024
KAIKŌURA VIEWS
MAYOR CRAIG MACKLE
New Citizens given
welcome to Kaikoura
Our latest New Zealand Citizenship
ceremony has been amajor highlight
for me recently.
Eight people obtained citizenship,
five of whom came from one family,
and who havebeen apart of our
communityfor anumber of years.
It was special to seethe children
dressed up in their traditional
costumes.
The Kaikōura community choir
Kai­Chorus performed, and it was
quite aspecial event.
The Mayoral Task Force is going
great guns, and we arekeen to see
this continue to evolve.
We will be lobbying for continued
support from the Government for this
important and beneficial project.
ABig thanks to Asia for coordinating
the programmesowell
and everyone involved.
Aheads up to everyone that
Council’s DiscretionaryGrants
process is open from March ,and
anyone interested can have alook at
the Kaikōura District Council
website for details around how to
apply and what the criteria is.
Summer’s not over yet and there
are anumber of exciting community
events still to happen in the
township.
Two fund raising events are coming
up shortly —one is the annual Pig &
Stag hunt on Easter weekend.
This year it is raising fundsfor the
miniature rifle club to renovate the
Kaikōura Suburban Hall
The other is the Adventure Race
from the April 19 to 21, which has just
grown and grown over the last few
years, and always manages to raise
funds to support some outdoor events
at the High School for our youth to
enjoy. Great to see some events
happening that support our
community.
Around the electorate with
STUART SMITH MP FOR KAIKOURA
‘Bluehighway’ work
The ‘blue highway’ between the North
and South Islands is served by afleet
of fiveships in the Cook Straight,
including three Interislander ferries
and two BlueBridge ferries.
The latter are privately funded and
run agood service withoutany
taxpayer assistance.
The previous government committed
to replacing the taxpayer funded
Interisland fleet with mega ferries and
portside infrastructure, otherwise
known as the iRex project, to the tune
of $775m —which has subsequently
blown outtonearly $3 billion, a
quadrupling of theoriginal cost.
Only 21 percent of the $3b was
allocated to the replacement of the
ferries themselves and the only option
for our incoming government was to
refuse the original addition funding.
We have since set up an expert
advisory group to provide
independent assurance on how to
proceed with the ferry service and end
the previous government’s poor
project management.
An additional concern was the
likelihood of further cost increases
effecting our ability to bring the books
back in order, something voters can
rightly expect to be addressed.
Time critical decisions such as
replacing the aging ferry service still
need to be well informed, well
planned, well researched, and
sustainably funded to ensure asafe
and reliable ferry service across Cook
Strait is available in the long term.
Supporting freight delivery,
business growth, export development
and tourism, it is vital to get this
decision right, noting that we all want
to see acost­effective solution that
increases our infrastructure
resilience.
Of course, thereare other options for
taking some of the freight off the road
with the added benefit of lowering
emissions as well.
These need to be carefully
considered as part of an overall plan to
maximise the country’s potential
economic growth and development.
Working with the community, and
business, to exploresome of these
options will be critical to future
success.
Canterbury’scoastline under the spotlight
By DAVIDHILL,
Local Democracy Reporter
Conservationists say Canterbury’s
coastline has been neglected for too long
and it's time for a‘‘complete overhaul’’ of
the regional council's plan to protect the
marine environment.
Te Korowai oTeTai ō Marokura, an
organisation that protects Kaikōura’s
marine environment and fisheries, has
been advocating for an updated
environmental plan for some time.
Secretary Gina Solomon said the
council’s focus on freshwater has seen it
‘‘neglect’’ the marine environment.
‘‘It needs acomplete overhaul and I
don’t think Canterbury is doing much in
the biosecurity or invasive species
space.’’
Her comments come after Environment
Canterbury voted last week to look into
what was needed to review the
Canterbury Regional Coastal
Environment Plan.
The plan was adopted in 2005 and aims
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Pegasus Bay
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to promote the sustainable management
of the Canterbury coast.
Councillor Genevieve Robinson, who
put forward the motion to review the
plan, said it no longer reflected the
direction or intent of the New Zealand
Coastal Policy Statement,which guides
local authorities on managing the coastal
environment.
Kaikōura Zone Committee chairperson
Ted Howard,aconservationist with 30
years experience in commercial fishing,
said areview was long overdue.
‘‘It has been on and off the books for a
while and it has been delayed three times
since I’ve been involved.’’
Greenpeace Aotearoa oceans
campaigner Ellie Hooper said regional
coastal plans played an important part in
protecting the health ofocean systems.
New Zealand’scoastlines faced risks
frompollution, sedimentation and
‘‘destructive fishing’’.
‘‘In New Zealand and around the world,
we are in an ocean crisis with species
being pushed to the brink due to human
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RANGIORA OCEANWATCH
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Set10:18am
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Gentle SEbecoming Gentle Sbecoming Gentle Sbecoming Gentle Sbecoming
Moderate S
Gentle SE becoming
moderate E
moderate SE
moderate E
moderate SE
strengthening
Gentle SE
moderate E
SE 0.7 mturning
E 0.8 m
E 0.8 m
W SE0.8 m E0.6 m SE0.7 m SE0.8 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
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activities.’’
Polling by Greenpeace showed New
Zealanders were concerned about the
impacts fishing on the ocean.
She said commercial fishing was
endangering Hector’s dolphins,seabirds,
fur seals and corals.
‘‘You’ve got the direct impacts of
fishing, things that are caught in the
process that aren’t the target,and then
you’ve got the impacts ofcommercial
fishing taking so much fish out of the
water that creatures like fur seals are
unable to feed themselves.
‘‘It is abhorrent.’’
Department of Conservation marine
species manager Malene Felsing said
regional coastal plans are important tools
for managing the coastal and marine
environment, and DOC would be happy to
help with any review process.
DOC has created amanagement plan to
reduce the threats to Hector’s and Māui
dolphins.
Fisheries New Zealand fisheries
management director Emma Taylor said
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marine mammals and seabirds were
‘‘precious taonga to New Zealand’’.
The agency worked closely with local
councils,DOC, the fishing industry, iwi,
and local communities to look after the
country’s coastlines.
The South Island Hector’s Dolphin
Bycatch Reduction Plan has been
developed and outlines regulatory and
voluntary measures designed to reduce
the Hectors’ dolphin bycatch towards
zero.
Measures include restrictions on
fishing, with around 17,650sqkm of South
Island coastline closed to set netting.
Around 6,988sqkm of trawl measures
are also in place, Ms Taylor said.
‘‘This includes the Canterbury
coastline, which has aset­netting ban out
to at leastfour nautical miles, and up to 19
nautical miles at Pegasus Bay.’’
Cr Robinson’s motion called for the ban
to be extended to six nautical miles, or
just over 11km from the coastline.
LDR is local body journalismcofunded
by RNZ and NZ On Air.
0
Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows
Waimakariri 4:12am 2.3 10:26am 0.7 4:56am 2.3 11:10am 0.7 5:37am 2.3 11:51am 0.7 6:16am 2.3 12:08am 0.7 6:55am 2.2 12:49am 0.7 7:35am 2.2 1:28am 0.7 8:16am 2.2 2:08am 0.7
Mouth
4:31pm 2.2 10:41pm 0.7 5:15pm 2.2 11:26pm 0.7 5:57pm 2.2
6:38pm 2.2 12:31pm 0.7 7:20pm 2.1 1:11pm 0.7 8:01pm 2.1 1:50pm 0.7 8:43pm 2.1 2:30pm 0.8
Amberley 4:12am 2.3 10:26am 0.7 4:56am 2.3 11:10am 0.7 5:37am 2.3 11:51am 0.7 6:16am 2.3 12:08am 0.7 6:55am 2.2 12:49am 0.7 7:35am 2.2 1:28am 0.7 8:16am 2.2 2:08am 0.7
Beach
4:31pm 2.2 10:41pm 0.7 5:15pm 2.2 11:26pm 0.7 5:57pm 2.2
6:38pm 2.2 12:31pm 0.7 7:20pm 2.1 1:11pm 0.7 8:01pm 2.1 1:50pm 0.7 8:43pm 2.1 2:30pm 0.8
4:21am 2.3 10:35am 0.7 5:05am 2.3 11:19am 0.7 5:46am 2.3
6:25am 2.3 12:17am 0.7 7:04am 2.2 12:58am 0.7 7:44am 2.2 1:37am 0.7 8:25am 2.2 2:17am 0.7
Motunau 4:40pm 2.2 10:50pm 0.7 5:24pm 2.2 11:35pm 0.7 6:06pm 2.2 12:00pm 0.7 6:47pm 2.2 12:40pm 0.7 7:29pm 2.1 1:20pm 0.7 8:10pm 2.1 1:59pm 0.7 8:52pm 2.1 2:39pm 0.8
4:23am 2.3 10:37am 0.7 5:07am 2.3 11:21am 0.7 5:48am 2.3
6:27am 2.3 12:19am 0.7 7:06am 2.2 1:00am 0.7 7:46am 2.2 1:39am 0.7 8:27am 2.2 2:19am 0.7
Gore Bay 4:42pm 2.2 10:52pm 0.7 5:26pm 2.2 11:37pm 0.7 6:08pm 2.2 12:02pm 0.7 6:49pm 2.2 12:42pm 0.7 7:31pm 2.1 1:22pm 0.7 8:12pm 2.1 2:01pm 0.7 8:54pm 2.1 2:41pm 0.8
4:12am 1.6 10:30am 0.4 4:58am 1.6 11:14am 0.4 5:41am 1.5 11:56am 0.4 6:23am 1.5 12:09am 0.4 7:03am 1.5 12:52am 0.4 7:44am 1.5 1:34am 0.4 8:26am 1.5 2:16am 0.4
Kaikoura 4:33pm 1.4 10:40pm 0.4 5:18pm 1.4 11:26pm 0.4 6:02pm 1.4
6:45pm 1.4 12:37pm 0.4 7:27pm 1.4 1:18pm 0.4 8:09pm 1.4 1:59pm 0.4 8:51pm 1.4 2:40pm 0.4
*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.
RANGIORA