ECan needs commissioners to complete freshwater reform, officials say

The government's proposed mixed governance model for Environment Canterbury will ensure the local authority has the expertise to finish most of the work for the region's freshwater strategy that could be derailed by losing the commissioners' skills, according to a regulatory impact statement on the move.

The Department of Internal Affairs and Ministry for the Environment recommended the government introduce a mixed model of governance in the 2016 three-year term, where the body is made up of seven elected councillors and six government appointees. That option had "strong merit as an option for addressing the issues of an abrupt loss of ECan's governing body and the risks that might present to continuity and momentum at a critical time for Canterbury in terms of freshwater management and earthquake recovery," the report said. (See report attached)

The mixed model also paved the way for the commissioners to exit in 2019, after which "much of the critical planning framework for freshwater management and earthquake recovery will be in place and the effects of any future political divisions will have been mitigated," it said.

The Internal Affairs and Environment officials were concerned a return to a fully elected body from 2016 risked losing the skills needed to complete the planning work and raised the prospect of the urban/rural divide creating a political deadlock like the one that saw the government sack elected councillors and appoint commissioners in 2010 because of slow progress on the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

"Currently, that risk is not palatable with so much work still to do in establishing critical planning frameworks and an imminent peak expected in resource consent applications," the report said.

Canterbury accounts for about 70% of New Zealand's fresh water resource and a third of the country's hydro-generation capacity.

In 2012, the government extended the commissioners' term by another three years to 2016 after the spate of earthquakes that devastated Christchurch and its surroundings disrupted the regional council's work.

The preferred option wasn't without risk as it hadn't been used in a local government context before, the report said.

However, the government officials saw a greater net benefit from the mixed model than either extending the terms of the commissioners, which didn't provide a long-term solution to the resumption of elected councillors, or holding elections in 2016, which risked losing the momentum built up by the commissioners.

To ensure the new governance arrangements can be made, the government will need to have new law by April next year, before the October local government elections.

(BusinessDesk)

RAW DATA: The Department of Internal Affairs and Ministry for the Environment report on Ecan (PDF here)