Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Councillors need to look at big picture
OPINION: The three-yearly election for Marlborough District Council is upon us and those candidates who’ve put their names forward are lining themselves up for a tough and often thankless task.
Severe road damage caused by unprecedented weather events, a summer of salmon suffocating in marine heatwaves, and farms hit by drought followed by floods are all indicators of climate change. How prepared is our council, and the new councillors, to deal with what lies ahead?
Key to this is seeing the big picture. An example of not looking at the big picture is the project to expand carparking at Marlborough Airport. At a time when people are increasingly aware of climate change and carbon emissions from air travel, Marlborough Airport Ltd (a council company) is encouraging more flights and more people driving cars to the airport.
The parking project will remove all the established trees in the grassy area between the current carpark and the state highway. These large trees capture carbon and help mitigate the effects of aircraft emissions, offer shade in the landscape, and provide an attractive welcome to visitors.
While the rest of the country is planting more trees to fight climate change, MDC is taking them out. This flies in the face of the council’s Climate Change
Action Plan adopted in March 2020 and its key goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and showing clear leadership on climate change issues.
MDC is responsible for many aspects of day-to-day life. The traditional three Rs of rubbish, roads and rates have been expanded over the years, with increasingly complex responsibilities, especially in the environmental space.
The Resource Management Act of 1991 requires each council to make its own rules through a local planning process. The MDC is finalising the Marlborough Environment Plan that will set the rules for the next 10 years or so. Or will it?
Those with deep pockets and eager lawyers can apply for a plan change to circumvent what has already been agreed, such as NZ King Salmon securing new water space in the Sounds for more farms, even though the plan said aquaculture was prohibited in those areas.
National Policy Statements, set by the Government, also override local plans. The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management is already in place and the National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity is close to being finalised.
Implementing these new rules works best in collaboration with industry and the community and MDC has made good progress at this including:
■ Smart and Connected working groups with forestry, farming and aquaculture industry.
■ The voluntary Significant Natural Areas (SNA) programme.
■ Improved water monitoring and working with water users and polluters to try to understand the issues and find solutions.
■ The Marlborough Environment Awards to recognise and promote local examples of good environmental management.
■ Te Hoiere/Pelorus catchment improvement project with iwi, DOC and industry groups.
However, along with these carrots to encourage (and subsidise) positive environmental action on the ground, there must be some sticks.
The council is also the environmental police – it is supposed to uphold the law through tools including instant fines, abatement notices and enforcement orders.
Day-to-day compliance should be firm and clear, yet we are aware of a case of repeated illegal discharge of dairy effluent to waterways, still being worked through with consultation and encouragement after five years.
Surely if compliance is not achieved within a reasonable timeframe, decisive action should be taken.
Another example is poor forestry harvesting practice, with slash and sediment washing into streams, across farmland and into the Sounds.
We are looking for clearer direction and backbone from the new council to enforce environmental rules.
Councillors face the difficult job of balancing industry’s desire for growth with the need to look after the environment. Add the uncertainty of climate change into the mix and we need a council that is able to make tough decisions to ensure the health of the environment comes first.
Have a read of the candidate blurbs that come with your voting papers. How many have mentioned climate change?
❚ Tim Newsham is the secretary of the Marlborough Environment Centre, a voluntary organisation established in 1989 to promote awareness and protect the environment through education and engagement with decision-makers.