Most regional council elected members want to see a freeze put on water bottling consents until the matter can be
considered nationwide.
Bay of Plenty regional councillors have the opportunity to vote on a remit put forward by Queenstown-Lakes District
Council to have a moratorium placed on water bottling and start a comprehensive nationwide discussion on the issue.
The remit requires councils to review inactive water bottling consents with a view to withdrawing the consent and
discourages water “banking”.
All councils will be able to vote on the remit at the Local Government New Zealand AGM on August 21.
Regional council staff have suggested to elected members that they abstain from voting on the remit, known as remit 7,
due to the fact that court action against the consent granted for the expansion of the Otakiri Springs is yet to be
resolved and Ngati Manawa has recently put in a resource consent request for a bottling plant in its rohe.
Kohi Maori constituency councillor Toi Kai Rakau Iti was the first to say he believed the council’s delegation should
vote to support the remit at the annual meeting and question if the court action and Ngati Manawa’s application would
prevent the delegation from doing so.
A staff member told the council that there would be no legal or operational ramifications for the council for voting in
support of the remit. He said there might be operational issues if the remit were to come into force.
The staff member said there was likely to be public perception issues regardless of which way the council voted and said
the council could expect a decision on the High Court case soon.
Mr Iti said if the council was to ask its constituents what they thought, the majority would like the council to vote in
support.
“I would like to support the remit as I feel water is a controversial activity that doesn’t have a lot of regulatory
framework around it,” he said.
“Let’s look closer and put in place firm and well thought-out regulatory framework before we give out more 35-year
consents.”
Mauao Maori constituency councillor Matemoana McDonald said she would also like the council to support the remit and
said te mauri o te wai should be forefront of any decision regarding water.
Eastern Bay councillor Bill Clark, Tauranga councillors Stacey Rose and Andrew von Dadelszen, and Rotorua councillor
Lyall Thurston also said they would like to support the remit.
“There is the issue of plastic bottles, two billion a year. If we don’t do a moratorium then where does it stop?” Mr
Clark said.
“We are actively encouraging this activity and we have to take a stand. If we don’t, all that plastic is on our
consciences.”
Mr Rose said he supported the remit because that was what the people of the Bay would want the council to do.
Mr Thurston said he supported the remit because it considered the four wellness principles the council stood for, water
shortages, and te mauri o te wai.
Western Bay of Plenty councillor Jane Nees and chairman Doug Leeder were concerned that if the council did not abstain
from voting then Ngati Manawa could take the view that the council was prejudiced against its resource consent
application.
Tauranga councillor David Love said he supported the remit but it was important to note the five delegates, Mr Leeder,
Ms McDonald, Ms Nees, Mr Rose and Kevin Winters, had the ability to “think on their feet” and vote as they saw fit on
the day.
It was resolved that the delegates should keep in mind the majority’s views on the remit, that it should be supported,
when making their vote.
Elected members also voted to support remits that advocated for the Government returning GST collected on rates to
council, the local government election cycle being extended from three to four years, and the Government providing
figures on how much each region contributes in taxes and how much is spent on it in return.