ECan’s whitebait ‘mistake’

New rules designed to protect whitebait fall short due to a ’’mistake’’ the regional council refused to correct, conservation group Forest & Bird claims.

Because of the alleged error, some whitebait spawning areas would be left completely unprotected, the group says.

It has challenged the rules in the High Court.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) recently updated its Regional Land and Water plan, which now has legal effect.

It included restrictions on work such as farming and construction in areas where whitebait were believed to spawn.

Four of five whitebait species are at risk of becoming extinct if current rates of decline continue.

Forest & Bird says a technical error by ECan means the plan won’t work, and leaves significant areas of spawning habitat unprotected.

The group says that the maps used to identify spawning sites were based on a different calculation than the one used in the plan.

Because of the different calculations used, some spawning sites identified on the maps would not be protected by the plan, said Forest & Bird counsel Peter Anderson.

‘‘They did the maps to create certainty about where the spawning habitats were, so people would clearly know where you can and can’t do these things.

‘‘The end result is that we have these planning maps and a definition [in the final plan] which don’t match.

‘‘It just creates confusion, and that’s not what you want in plans.’’

"They did the maps to create certainty about where the spawning habitats were, so people would clearly know where you can and can't do these things.''

Forest & Bird counsel Peter Anderson

He said the ‘‘mismatch’’ left an unknown number of breeding areas at risk.

Attempts to tell ECan about their concerns were ignored, Anderson said. The group was now using its own resources to get the plan changed he said.

‘‘We made these really clear submissions on it but they [ECan staff] didn’t go to the effort to try and understand what we’d said, so they just ignored it,’’ he said.

ECan commissioner Peter Skelton said the council had just received the appeal, and had not considered it in detail.

When the plan change was confirmed last month, he lauded the effect it would have on whitebait.

‘‘The plan change puts in place new provisions to protect areas of potential inanga [whitebait] spawning habitat,’’ he said.

‘‘The effect of this is to prohibit farmed cattle, deer and pigs from more lowland waterbodies than is currently the case.’’

The date for the appeal will be set on September 12, with a result expected in the coming months.