MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Horizons welcomes OAG report

Horizons Regional Council welcomes the findings of the Office of Auditor-General’s report into the management of freshwater which describes their compliance monitoring as “robust” and “fair”.

The report released today from one of the country’s highest authorities, provides an independent view of how effectively four of the country’s regional councils are mananging land-use activities and their impact on water quality.

Chief executive of Horizons Regional Council, Michael McCartney says he is pleased with the findings and accepting of the recommendations.

“The report found Horizons to be maintaining and enhancing water quality in two of our key catchments – the Rangitikei and Whanganui. We’re not quite there for the Manawatu as yet but there was acknowledgment that we are on the right path to improving this catchment also.”

The OAG report described Horizons’ compliance monitoring as both strong and consistent and commended several of Horizons’ programmes including the Rural Advice Team, Sustainable Land Use Initiative, and online tools such as the pond-size calculator and WaterMatters.

Horizons underwent a similar audit in 2005 and Mr McCartney said he’s pleased with the progress made.

“The OAG acknowledged the significant progress we’ve made when they presented their findings to our councillors. Both Horizons staff and our communities have worked really hard in this space. We’ve come a long way and that’s to be commended.

“That said, there are still improvements we can make and we’ll be reviewing the recommendations presented and addressing any gaps.”

The OAG’s report review aims to provide an independent view of how effectively regional councils are managing land use (and the resulting non-point source discharges) for the purpose of maintaining and enhancing freshwater quality in their regions. It reviewed four regional councils – Waikato Regional Council, Taranaki Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council, and Environment Southland.

Mr McCartney said the scrutiny applied to the councils involved was thorough with OAG officials spending several weeks on site reviewing programmes and results.

ENDS

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