Environment Canterbury tries to solve water stand-off
As a water consenting stand-off drags on in Canterbury, the regional council plans to present some ideas on how to fix the problem.
Infrastructure projects in Waimakariri and Christchurch have been stalled because of unintended consequences caused by changes to local land regulations and a court decision on a water bottling plant in Christchurch.
Environment Canterbury has confirmed it is working to find a solution to the issue.
Waimakariri District Council utilities and roading manager Gerard Cleary said he was pleased to hear the regional council would propose a plan change to the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan in June. t follows a Supreme Court ruling in November on a water bottling consent, which reinforced an earlier High Court decision to consider the ‘take’ and ‘use’ of water together.
The ruling affected consents under the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan. It meant, in the short term, there was no mechanism to issue new consents for the ongoing take of groundwater by stormwater basins, if the aquifer is fully or over-allocated.
Cleary said the councils had been coming up with alternative approaches to address stormwater issues.
“It is pleasing Environment Canterbury has listened to the councils and others who have been impacted and they are getting on and doing something to resolve it.
“Environment Canterbury had always acknowledged there was an issue and it was an unintended consequence.
“Going forward it will give us some more certainty whether consents can be obtained.”
Cleary said Waimakariri District Council staff will be watching the planning process
closely and will make a submission if necessary.
Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon said he was pleased the regional council was treating the matter with urgency.
“[Christchurch] Mayor Phil [Mauger] and I, along with staff from both our councils, have been raising these concerns for more than a year, both with ECan directly and at the Mayoral Forum level.
“It is very important to the future development of our district that a solution is
found that we can all agree on and support.”
Environment Canterbury chairperson Peter Scott said the court ruling had a major impact on consenting for sub-divisions and roading.
“We have had a lot of pressure from Christchurch and Waimakariri to get this resolved sooner. We could have acted after the Court of Appeal ruling, but if the Supreme Court gave a different ruling we would have had to change it again.”
Environment Canterbury voted last week to loan fund the process, which is expected to cost up to $500,000. The plan change will also include changes to the Hurunui and Waiau River Regional Plan.
Staff were due to report back to the council this month with options for the plan change, which is expected to be notified in June.