Taskforce plan urged

Australia's former trade commissioner to China says the Tasman District Council needs to set up two taskforce teams to address the issues of peak oil and climate change.

Australia's former trade commissioner to China says the Tasman District Council needs to set up two taskforce teams to address the issues of peak oil and climate change.

Carolyn Hughes, who held the position for four years until 2004 and now lives in Ruby Bay, said at the council's draft 10-year plan submission hearings in Richmond this week it was wishful thinking if the council believed technology, central government or the "invisible hand of the market" would resolve the issues.

Ms Hughes, who gives New Zealand businesses advice on trading with China, said setting up two taskforces could support training schemes in the environmental sector, and launch a local volunteer carbon credit trading platform between the TDC and Nelson City Council.

The taskforces would have the role of engaging closely with the community and not just the active special interest or "squeaky wheel" groups, she said.

Ms Hughes said she had witnessed at first-hand China's government maximising growth at a rate of 10 per cent over 20 years.

The result was toxic air, water and food pollution, chronic ill-health, collapsing eco-systems and increasing protests every year from a population demanding quality rather than quantity of life, she said.

"Those who can, leave for countries like New Zealand where, because of our low population density in areas like Tasman, there is still some surplus bio-capacity for a while longer.

"In my submission, far from expecting the runaway train approach of the Chinese Communist Party, I expect the TDC to exercise the vital role of local government leadership in getting our region on to a truly sustainable track."

The draft 10-year plan needed to be reviewed in the context of the impacts of climate change and oil depletion, she said. Councillors did not have time to ask any questions.

- © Fairfax NZ News