Opponents of "industrial-scale" dairy farming in the
Omarama and Ohau regions, and other interested parties, have
welcomed yesterday's decision by Environment Minister Dr Nick
Smith to "call in" the associated consent applications.
Reactions ranged from the jubilant to the cautiously
positive.
Dr Smith announced his decision, using his powers under the
Resource Management Act, after seeking the views of
Environment Canterbury (ECan), applicants - Five Rivers Ltd,
Southdown Holdings Ltd and Williamson Holdings Ltd - and
others.
Dr Smith's decision means the consents will now be decided by
a five-member board of inquiry named yesterday, rather than
by an Environment Canterbury (ECan) panel which was due to
hear the consents over 16 days starting from March 10.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean, who asked Dr Smith to call in the
consents, said she was "very pleased".
"Like it or not, we have these proposals on our plate and the
call-in will enable the best possible process to take place,"
she said.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright
also welcomed Dr Smith's decision.
She told NZPA he was correct to identify that there were
significant concerns over water quality.
"These proposals have national implications ranging from the
special unique ecology of the Mackenzie, to tourism and
carbon-free power generation," Dr Wright said.
Green Party co-leader Russel Norman claimed a victory for the
Green Party on the decision, but Twizel resident Scott
Aronsen, who was involved in a public meeting over the
proposals, sounded a note of caution.
"It's great, but there's always a but," Mr Aronsen said.
While the board of inquiry would put another hurdle in front
of the developers "it's not dead and buried yet", he said.
The board of inquiry includes Environment Court Judge Jane
Borthwick, who has had extensive experience dealing with
water issues in the Waitaki catchment, and three
commissioners - Edward Ellison, Mike Bowden and James Cooke -
at present on a four-member panel appointed by ECan to
consider water applications for irrigation by the three dairy
farm companies, along with more than 100 others in the Upper
Waitaki catchment.
The fifth member is internationally recognised lake ecologist
Prof David Hamilton, who studied at the University of Otago
where he obtained his doctorate.
Dr Smith said he had deliberately chosen the members of the
board of inquiry because of their expertise and included the
three commissioners who were on the ECan panel.
That would ensure appropriate continuity of the
decision-making process with the water applications tied to
the effluent consents.
Dr Smith said yesterday he called in the 15 applications
because they were "nationally significant" due to their
scale, the fragile and special nature of the region, the
importance of fresh water quality to the Government, and the
high level of public interest.
Dr Smith said the call-in had been complicated because recent
amendments to the Act did not apply.
Water resource consent applications, which date back to 2004
and were at present being heard by the ECan panel, also fell
outside the amendments to the Act.
Issues of animal welfare - the cows in cubicles - raised by
many submitters did not fall under the Act.
"This process will enable the most robust decision possible
for these contentious issues," Dr Smith said.
- david.bruce@odt.co.nz
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