Former ECan Chair Blasts Councillors For 'Acting Like Emus'

Friday, 4 April 2025, 7:47 pm
Article: David Hill - Local Democracy Reporter

Environment Canterbury's (ECan) former chair says his colleagues are ''acting like emus'' by allowing staff to continue planning work in the face of legislative change.

Councillors voted to endorse staff continuing to work on updating the Canterbury Regional Coastal Environment Plan, as directed in last year's Long Term Plan, at a council meeting on Wednesday, 2 April.

But councillor Peter Scott said the council is ''wasting money'' as the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms are likely to require significant changes.

''We are fiddling here while Rome is burning. We keep doing the things we said we were going to do 12 months ago in the Long-Term Plan, but things have changed,'' he said.

''I think we are under massive threat, if our regional CME (compliance, monitoring and enforcement) functions are taken off us, what are we going to do then - look after rivers?

''Some of the councillors around the table are acting like emus.''

Scott was backed by councillors David East, Ian Mackenzie, Nick Ward and Tutehounuku Korako, while John Sunckell abstained.

But 10 councillors supported staff continuing to work on its planning framework, including chairperson Craig Pauling, deputy chair Deon Swiggs, and fellow councillors Grant Edge, Claire McKay, Vicky Southworth, Greg Byrnes, Iaean Cranwell, Joe Davies, Paul Dietsche and Genevieve Robinson.

Pauling said he acknowledged Scott's concerns, but doing nothing would set the council back.

''I do question what you are referring to when you talk about 'Rome is burning', is it climate change or is it Wellington?

''There seems to be an adversity to doing plans, but you need a plan before you go into a fire. My friends in the fire service have a plan - you don't just rush into a fire'' he said.

Pauling said whatever the government legislation produced, the region would still need a coastal plan.

Edge said councillors were not adopting the plan, but asking staff to continue investigating what needed to be in the plan.

''It is really important that staff be able to carry on with a fairly big programme of work, to provide that investigation, research and update our data and find out which direction our region is going in, subject to the direction from government.''

ECan regional planning manager Andrew Parrish said he had incorporated the government's recent RMA reform announcements into his presentation.

In last year's Long-Term Plan, staff were directed to review the Canterbury Regional Coastal Environment Plan as part of developing an integrated regional plan, which is required under existing legislation.

Parrish said recent announcements indicated central government direction was still moving towards having one regional plan.

He said the integrated plan will bring together seven regional plans, the 10 District Plans and the various spatial plans developed by local councils.

The regional plans include the land and water, air and coastal plans, and three river plans for the Waipara, Waimakariri, and Hurunui and Waiau rivers.

A Waitaki River catchment plan is also being developed in partnership with the Otago Regional Council and three local Rūnanga.

Last year ECan voted to defer work on its Regional Policy Statement, while it waited for direction from central government.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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