22 December 2015

Selwyn - Waihora Zone Committee appoints community members

Two community members have been appointed to the Selwyn - Waihora Zone Committee, one of ten committees in Canterbury responsible for delivering the community’s goals for water.

Community memberships are refreshed annually to ensure a wide range of views are reflected.

Victor Mthamo is a new appointment to the committee. As an environmental engineer, he has a strong technical background in environmental science, engineering and agricultural management.

Maree Goldring has been reappointed to the committee and the other community representatives are Bill Lambie, Allen Lim, Ron Pellow, Hayley Moynihan and John Sunckell.

Christina Robb, Programme Manager Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS), said the selection process focussed on finding people who can see others’ points of views and work collaboratively to find solutions for water issues.

“The CWMS is an innovative approach to managing fresh water. It’s about finding the best ways to restore our environment and provide for viable farming and communities throughout the region.

“We were pleased with the quality of the applicants and we’re sure the committee has a good balance of community representatives who are passionate about making a positive difference to local water management.

“Maree’s contribution and commitment to the zone committee is acknowledged by other committee members and her interests are an important contribution to the balance of the committee. Victor brings strong technical expertise and a collaborative style.

“Each zone committee is focused on local actions to deliver the goals of the CWMS by encouraging good management practices from all land users and improving natural values while allowing for a reliable and safe water supply,” she said.

Recently the Selwyn - Waihora Zone Committee has been focussed on working with the community to manage nitrate losses, and progressing work towards improving the health of its priority catchments, particularly, Te Waihora.

Next year the committee will continue its work with is neighbouring zones on delivering CWMS goals in alpine and braided rivers and monitor and review its achievements to deliver environmental, cultural, economic and social outcomes from the zone’s water resource.

For the Selwyn - Waihora catchment, new rules in a plan under the Resource Management Act become operative in February 2016. The Zone Committee wants to ensure that the plan is implemented efficiently in a way that provides confidence to all parties that nitrogen losses in the catchment are reduced to agreed levels.

The Selwyn - Waihora Zone Committee is a joint committee of Environment Canterbury and the Selwyn District Council and the Christchurch City Council. Each zone committee has four to nine community members, an Environment Canterbury Commissioner, councillors from the relevant District Council/s, and representatives from Ngāi Tahu Rūnanga.

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