Kircher praises ECan rethink
ENVIRONMENT Canterbury has shown ‘‘a lot of common sense’’ by amending its initial proposal for representation, Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher says.
ECan now has 13 councillors (six appointed and seven elected) and before it returns to a fully democratically elected council next year it is conducting a review. It initially proposed 13 elected councillors, including just one representing South Canterbury, which includes the Waitaki River catchment.
ECan chairman Steve Lowndes confirmed yesterday that as a result of submissions, the council had unanimously decided to increase its proposal to 14 councillors, including two representing South Canterbury.
Mr Kircher said the Waitaki catchment made the area important for ECan despite its lower population.
‘‘That’s one of the most significant waterways in the Environment Canterbury area. And when you’ve got regional councils that look after water, air and public transport, I think they’ve got more than enough councillors to look after the public transport of Christchurch, and we want to make sure that there’s a reasonable number of councillors that can focus on the water and air issues,’’ he said.
Last Friday, Mr Kircher was in Christchurch, with Waimate Mayor Craig Rowley and Mackenzie Mayor Graham Smith, to present their joint submission to the council.
Mr Lowndes said the council received 64 submissions on its initial proposal, with 27 in support of its first draft.
‘‘We did, however, also hear 20 strong submissions requesting that we consider an additional representative for South CanterburyOtuhituhi,’’ he said.
The initial proposal would also be amended by changing the name of the Christchurch North constituency to Christchurch North EastOrei.
A final proposal would be prepared for adoption at the August 23 ECan meeting.
The proposal would then be sent to the Local Government Commission for determination in preparation for the 2019 elections.