An announcement was made yesterday that Waitaki and Mackenzie District Councils, Environment Canterbury, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) would work more closely together to align services and improve land and water management activities in the basin.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said throughout this part of New Zealand there was so much crossover work around the management of land and ownership that there was a real risk of duplication of services.
All public bodies involved would review how they worked and how best they could fit in with each other, how their goal of "better alignment" could work within existing statutory constraints, land use in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Basin, and a legislative and regulatory function review.
Ngai Tahu and the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) would be consulted during the review.
Mr Kircher said the idea was to make sure everyone was aware of what the other was doing and avoid duplication and sometimes trebling of costs. Mackenzie Mayor Graham Smith described the agreement as a starting point of conversation.
"We’re not buying into anything at the moment, but it’s a working group to see how we can better protect the environment and look at issues within our district."
He was happy to see Waitaki take part in the review.
"We’ve got a lot of common boundaries so it’s good to be able to get on the same page."
He said Mackenzie District Council pushed for discussions for some time between all parties.
Environment Canterbury chief executive Bill Bayfield said the move between the statutory land and water managers in the basin was triggered by "healthy criticism" and changes in the planning regime on the horizon for an area known for its unique environment with outstanding landscape and significant ecological values.
He said the review would take two to three months.
