Aspirants confront quality problems

"We need to make the environment front and central." Horizons councillor Rachel Keedwell

Water quality has come under the spotlight of regional council candidates at a wide-ranging public meeting.

Palmerston North’s Horizons aspirants tackled a bevy of environmental issues on Tuesday.

They spoke at Forest and Bird Manawatu’s monthly meeting at the Palmerston North Library and were asked what they considered the biggest environmental issue facing the region.

Incumbent Rachel Keedwell, hoping to return for a second term, said the biggest issue was how the environment was viewed.

Keedwell said the environment was not an area in which the council did itself justice. ‘‘It is the first thing to be cut when savings need to be made. We need to turn that thinking around. We need to make the environment front and central.’’

Keedwell, who has a PHD in ecology, said the environment was the economy.

Pat Kelly, another sitting councillor, said water quality would be his main focus.

He said quality was declining and he would make sure the contentious One Plan was enforced to cope with increasing water demand. Havelock North and Pahiatua’s recent drinking-water woes were wake-up calls, Kelly said.

Ralph Pugmire, having his first run at a council, pointed to a mixture of issues. He questioned the quality of freshwater and air left for future generations.

Pugmire also highlighted pest control and loss of biodiversity, use of fossil fuels and climate change.

He said he was a scientist and an engineer with a background in business.

Amey Bell-booth, making a second run for a seat, said the council needed fresh energy and vision.

She spoke about the reliance on the environment to provide clean water, air, food and other resources. Her big issue was a disconnect and lack of understanding of the environment’s value and the potential effects of degradation.

Bell-booth said she had studied landscape management and had a masters of business administration. She acknowledged she was ‘‘a newbie’’, but said she was ready to put in the time.

Wiremu Te Awe Awe, also making a second run, said the best thing that ever happened to the Manawatu River was being called the worst river in the Southern Hemisphere.

‘‘It meant we had to start working on it.’’

Horizons should not be followers in the clean-up, he said.

Te Awe Awe said the council needed to work with farmers, though he wanted to see a cut to the stock ratio per hectare.

Incumbent councillor Paul Rieger did not attend, to which Keedwell quipped he could be dead for 10 years and still get elected.

The Manawatu Standard contacted Rieger, a Horizons councillor since 1998, who said climate change was his most pertinent issue.

He said the council already knew about water quality and environmental pests and was dealing with them. Whether the council should be spending more on those issues was a matter of balance, he said.