Editorial: The axe falls

OPINION: After years of simmering regional resentment of Environment Canterbury (ECan), the axe finally fell on its 14 councillors yesterday.

Despite a last ditch attempt by a majority of them to salvage their jobs through a face-saving compromise, they will be replaced by commissioners headed by public service trouble-shooter Dame Margaret Bazley.

Considering the drastic nature of this intervention, the Government acted relatively quickly following the damning report of the working party headed by former National deputy prime minister Wyatt Creech.

This speed was commendable, as it provides some certainty over ECan's future. In turn, Environment Minister Nick Smith, often considered slightly erratic, deserves plaudits for the manner in which he consulted regional interests.

Ultimately the Government had little choice but to act decisively. Trenchant criticism of ECan from business and local councils was followed by the Creech report, which gave Smith and Local Government Minister Rodney Hide the ammunition they needed.

This report painted a picture of a council so dysfunctional that comprehensive and rapid intervention by central government was required. After such a report the Government would have been open to criticism had it not taken the action it did, although it remains to be seen whether a change in governance alone will be a complete solution for ECan.

Water issues were the key reason for Cabinet's action and management of that resource will be a prime responsibility for Bazley's commissioners. There has been much argument over who is responsible for the lack of a coherent approach to water. Recriminations aside, the province's new water management strategy, developed by ECan, territorial councils and other water stakeholders, must be the foundation of Bazley's thinking.

She and the other commissioners will be given stronger powers, including the ability to declare moratoriums on water consents in areas almost fully allocated, and a streamlined water conservation order process. These are powers which the Government was not prepared to give to the current council, such was the absence of trust between the two levels of government.

Yet to be determined is whether a separate water authority, another Creech report recommendation, should be established. Reports are still outstanding on the Government's proposed Land and Water Forum and an Environmental Protection Agency.

Sacking elected councillors does carry political risk, and it will be labelled an affront to democracy. The Government is gambling that this will be outweighed by the widespread regional animosity to ECan. It may also have pondered the engagement of voters; at the last election, for example, Rik Tindall was elected on the back of the emotive "save our water" slogan, only to replace Richard Budd, who had a proven commitment to water issues.

The choice of Bazley as head commissioner is sound: she has an impressive record as a state sector "fixer" under successive governments. Her experience as a change manager should be valuable as she must give staff members, who will be unsettled by the councillors' sackings, confidence for the future, even as she works to break down ECan's fortress culture.

Bazley will also bring the viewpoint of an outsider to her new role, which will include healing rifts with the local councils. The real test, however, will be whether the other commissioners have no regional baggage, especially with respect to water. And the work of the commissioners will be scrutinised to ensure that economic interests, including those of irrigators, are balanced with the protection of environmental values.

With the councillors out of a job, several, perhaps Jo Kane or Sir Kerry Burke, might be tempted to challenge Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker. If so, a key campaign plank could be the accusation that Parker, in cohorts with the other regional mayors, undermined ECan without any real basis, such as documentation of past concerns. His riposte, though, might be why trust someone who ruined ECan.

With no ECan election this year, the result could be an even spicier contest for the city's top position.

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