ECan receives damning water report

A high-powered review group has recommended Environment Canterbury (ECan) lose control of water management in the region.

In a damning report released by the Government the review group recommends a new Canterbury Regional Water Authority be established to handle water resource consents and handle all freshwater responsibilities in the region.

The review team found that it was not only ECan's governance that was substandard.

It found ECan's management, professional and technical performance was also well below that required of the organisation.

However, elsewhere in its report the group said it was also clear that much of the poor performance in meeting statutory timeframes was historic.

The new authority would be made up of members appointed by the Government.

Review leader Wyatt Creech said in his view all ECan councillors should be removed and replaced with commissioners immediately.

Environment Minister Nick Smith said no decisions had yet been made.

But he said the report was "far worse" than he had expected.

"The extent of the gap between the capability of ECan and what is required for it to adequately manage freshwater issues is enormous and unprecedented," the report says.

Smith said a new water authority was "a live option" but no decisions had been made.

Rodney Hide said it would be a "very big step" to replace a local authority and raised questions about local democracy.

Creech said a "fortress" culture operated at ECan and it had an attitude of "we know best".

He also raised concerns about the "dysfunctional" relationship between ECan and other local authorities in Canterbury.

Kaikoura mayor Kevin Heays, who also sits on the Canterbury mayoral forum which voiced concerns about ECan's performance back in September leading to the ousting of chairman Kerry Burke, said the report signalled a "serious situation".

"I, along with my fellow Canterbury mayors, have meetings scheduled with Ministers Smith, Hide and Carter to get the full perspective from the Government's point of view regarding the Creech report," he said.

"We believe the extent of that report not only vindicates what the Canterbury Mayoral Forum has been saying but in fact shows that the situation is even more serious.

"As a group we look forward to the reaction of cabinet regarding the recommendations in the report and any actions on those recommendations."

But Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the report was an attack on democracy and could be disastrous for the Canterbury environment.

ECan itself have said it will work constructively with the Government following the release of the report.

- © Fairfax NZ News