ECan 'hung out to dry' by central govt

Environment Canterbury (ECan) "has been hung out to dry" by central government, Water Rights Trust chairman Murray Rodgers says.

Last week, ECan was ranked bottom of 85 New Zealand councils in the 2007-08 year for its speed in processing resource consents, more than half of which were water applications.

Environment Minister Nick Smith scolded ECan and eight other councils over their record and demanded changes.

Launching his book, Canterbury's Wicked Water, in Christchurch last night, Rodgers backed ECan, saying it had been badly treated by central government.

"ECan, in my view, has been hung out to dry over the last four or five years by central government," he told an audience of about 100.

"It just has not been given the legislative support to do its job."

He hoped the National Government would get to grips with the issue.

The regional council had been "slow off the mark" with the glut of applications for water consents in Canterbury, he said.

"But in the last four or five years, ECan has made great progress.

"It's on the right path and from our point of view we wouldn't have suggested they take a different approach."

Figures last week showed that, since July last year, ECan had sped up its handling of consents and had processed 67 per cent within legal time frames.

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said at the book launch the Government's proposed Environmental Protection Authority would be a good way to bring together scientific expertise in one organisation, rather than having it dispersed around regional councils.

The party had "watched very closely" as some regional councils failed to cope with their legal requirements. "Does that mean we should get rid of regional councils? Not necessarily. We need to have discussions to make sure they do their job," Norman said.

"National policy statements and national environmental standards would have been extremely helpful for regional councils. Central government should have played a much greater role in that."

Rodgers' book tells of the trust's dealings over the past eight years and argues for governance structures and behaviour for a sustainable future.

- © Fairfax NZ News