Gerrard Eckhoff says that regional councillors need to
make their views known on infrastructure projects within
their regions.
Th province of Otago has some hard decisions to make.
Multimillions of dollars have been spent on two power
generation projects, Aqua and Hayes, only to have at least
one of them (to date) terminated despite a pending shortfall
of generation capacity.
The real signal sent, however, is that the people of Otago
and their representatives do not want to see the natural
resources of the region utilised.
We now find ourselves in the ludicrous situation - and have
done for almost two decades - where the elected
representatives of the regions do not publicly state their
considered personal opinion on matters of real importance to
their region.
Councillors are elected by the people to work and act in the
best interests of the region but the moment a significant
development comes along, little or nothing is heard from them
due to fear of being accused of predetermination or bias and
precluded from a hearings panel.
Most mayors and councillors appear to feel they are required
to remain silent on such matters as Project Hayes.
Who better than the elected representatives to submit on
behalf of the people of the region to the unelected
Environment Court?
Who better to add weighting to the point of view that takes
into account wider considerations than one solely based on a
single factor such as landscape or economics?
Who better to give voice to counter the occasional primal
scream from the well-funded and the comfortable environmental
enthusiast?
How else do the people of the region know how their
representatives think and vote on their behalf unless they
speak out publicly?
What is the public's judgement at the ballot box actually
based on?
This region may well have to deal with future applications
for more dams on the Clutha and Nevis Rivers and mining in
sensitive areas.
It is important that civic leaders speak out on such
developments.
Do the people of Otago want to utilise our natural capital to
facilitate growth or not? Part of the problem lies with the
Resource Management Act.
The RMA requires councils to set environmental standards and
then for councillors to sit in judgement on the very policies
they wrote.
That is simply wrong and flies in the face of all the tenets
of natural justice.
The Resource Management Act is hailed by some as
world-leading environmental legislation.
Despite it being in operation for 20-odd years no other
country has gone anywhere near to adopting a similar approach
to environmental management I, for one, believe we as
councillors have a duty to the region to speak out, even if
we are then to be disqualified for a future hearing panel on
a similar issue.
The sooner a law change that requires a hearings panel to be
made up solely of commissioners - thereby freeing elected
representatives to inform the public of their views and be
fairly held to account at election time - the better.
• Gerrard Eckhoff is a Roxburgh farmer and Otago
regional councillor.
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