Water quality priority for regional councillors
Addressing the Government’s new rules around water quality will be top priority for the newly elected Taranaki regional councillors.
At the first post election meeting, re-elected chairman David MacLeod said the impact of the proposals, which aim to clean up freshwater across the country and improve farming practices within five years, could not be underestimated in the region.
The new proposed policy requires local government to come up with a freshwater plan before 2025 and the TRC has already been formulating a submission to the draft policy ahead of today’s deadline, he said.
MacLeod said the submission would ensure central government understood how the proposals, in the current form, would affect the region.
‘‘While we all agree with the goal of improving our rivers and streams, we need to ensure the Government understands that we need effective and pragmatic ways to achieve it.’’
Other priorities for the council include incorporating ma¯tauranga Ma¯ori into freshwater monitoring and management, finalising the new regional water and land plan, and working with iwi and hapu¯ to improve the Waitara River catchment using funds from implementation of the Waitara Lands Act, MacLeod said.
At the meeting, MacLeod was re-elected unopposed for the fifth term as TRC chairman and Michael Joyce was elected unopposed as deputy chairman, replacing long standing regional councillor David Lean.
For the first time a waiata was sung in the council chambers to welcome re-elected councillors and the one new face – Elvisa Van Der Leden.
Van Der Leden, who replaces Bev Raine, said she was ‘‘excited’’ to be at the table and expected the next three years to be busy as she came to grips with council work.
Van Der Leden stood for the regional council after attending a seminar on young women in politics organised by TRC councillor Charlotte Littlewood and New Plymouth district councillor Stacey Hitchcock in 2018.
Littlewood and van der Leden are the two sole women on the regional council.
‘‘I’m pleased Elvisa was elected and it brings a new face to the table,’’ Littlewood said.
Before the local body elections there were only two women regional councillors aged under 40 in New Zealand, she said. ‘‘There are now 12 under 40 which is really encouraging.’’