Freshwater planning by regional councils could include things like nitrate and pollution levels in waterways. (File pic) Photo: Claire Concannon / RNZ
Regional councils around the country will be horrified by central government "overreach" that scuppered a council vote via last-minute amendments to a bill going through Parliament, an Otago councillor says.
The government introduced an amendment to its Resource Management Act (RMA) legislation on Tuesday preventing councils from taking environmental rules to the public before the new national policy statements are in place, or before the end of next year, whichever came first.
Freshwater planning could include things like nitrate and pollution levels in waterways, stock levels, winter grazing and the creation and protection of wetlands.
The Otago Regional Council (ORC) was due to vote on its Land and Water Regional Plan on Wednesday, but late on Tuesday chief executive Richard Saunders pulled reports from the agenda that would have seen councillors decide whether to forge ahead and seek public feedback or pause work on the plan.
Councillor Alexa Forbes said the ORC had been prevented from playing its part in the democratic process and warned other councils would also be affected.
"We're not special, we're just first. The 16 regional councils of New Zealand are trying to bring in plans, they will be watching, and they are horrified at this overreach. So much for localism," she said.
The council had spent five years working on the plan at a cost of $18 million.
Saunders told the council the decision to withdraw the reports from the agenda was "not made lightly."
"I am very conscious of the level of interest in this process and the ongoing work of a significant number of staff and our community that have got us to the point where we were prepared to deliver the plan...
"What has changed significantly in the last 24 hours is the political context in which we're operating - it's our job to provide the best advice to inform those decisions and we've been unable to do that," Saunders said.
The council still voted to note the report, and on motions from councillor Elliot Weir registering "deep concern" at the government's actions and requesting clarification on how regional policy statements would be honoured, both of which failed.
Chairperson Gretchen Robertson described the plan as "pretty damn good", acknowledging the thousands of hours that had gone into it by community members, councillors and council staff alike.
She said Environment Minister Penny Simmonds had "consistently stated councils have the autonomy to decide on timing of the public notification of their freshwater plans", but that the government "has a right to change the law".
The council was working under a previous ministerial directive to get a new plan in place by June 2024, ahead of other councils, which have a 2027 deadline.
Councillor Alan Somerville warned delaying the plan would "bring clarity for nobody," and classed the government's actions a "significant undermining of local democracy".
Councillor Michael Laws accused the council of playing chicken with the government in the face of multiple requests to halt the plan process.
Federated Farmers supports government move
Federated Farmers has branded the move a win for common sense.
"Regional councils have been totally out of control pushing ahead with expensive and impractical new freshwater rules," Federated Farmers vice-president Colin Hurst said.
In September, the organisation wrote to Simmonds, urging her to insert an amendment to Section 80A of the RMA to suspend the power of regional councils to publicly notify freshwater planning until new national policies were in place.
The letter specifically named Otago, Canterbury and Southland regional councils as having freshwater planning underway which the councils were likely to notify later this year or early next year.
It went on to note both Federated Farmers and Dairy NZ also made this suggestion in their select committee submissions on the bill.
Green Party environment spokesperson Lan Pham called the move a "complete democratic override of local decision making".
The government was saying "do it our way or we will intervene," she said.
Its approach was part of a "comprehensive dismantling" of environmental legislation alongside the defunding of agencies and science institutes that "support good decision making", Pham said.
The ORC's 20-year-old plan was badly in need of updating, and had gone through a lengthy process with input from urban and rural industry groups, public meetings, mana whenua and experts.
Labour's shadow attorney-general, David Parker, said the council had worked very hard on the plan over several years only to have the government "dump an amendment in the house" in an attempt to "subvert the current law".
Parker argued that because the law containing the new amendment had yet to pass, the council could have gone ahead with its vote.
He said some of the region's waterways were under pressure from sediment, pathogens and nutrients such as nitrate from intensive land use. Some still did not have statutory minimum flow levels, even 30 years after the RMA was introduced, Parker said.
Simmonds defended the move, describing it as a "pause" that will save ratepayers money from double handling.
She said the degradation of freshwater had happened over many decades, and would take time to improve.
"This is about protecting the interests of the primary sector, resource users, and ratepayers. Ratepayers and farmers need certainty, and they don't deserve to have their money wasted," Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said.
Ministers Simmonds and McClay met with Otago council leadership in mid-September to reiterate their "strong preference" council not go ahead with the plan , but votes to suspend work were lost.