ECan offers deal to avert sacking

Environment Canterbury's council has offered a compromise deal in an effort to keep their jobs after a government review recommended sacking the council and replacing it with independent commissioners.

ECan chairman Alec Neill told the Herald it suggested the council continue to manage functions outside of water with a government-appointed "commissioner adviser" overseeing water management. "I believe this solution is a win-win for everyone. If the Government were to go down the route of replacing the council with independent commissioners, then it would have to pass special legislation, which would open up a whole Pandora's box."

Mr Neill said he did not see the offer as an admission of defeat.

"I think we are accepting reality. We face pressure from the Canterbury mayors, interest groups and the review groups to act on the water issue. This means we can do that while still maintaining democratic representation."

Mr Neill said under ECan's compromise, the commissioner-overseer would work with representatives from Local Government NZ, Ngai Tahu and the Canterbury mayoral forum to eventually re-integrate all of ECan's roles. "Whoever is in charge of managing water in Canterbury, the problems are not going to go away. There are competing interests on both sides, and we have to balance the needs of environment and the desire for development."

ECan's proposed compromise came after a series of informal meetings, with the council voting in favour of it by 11 votes to three. The council sent the submission to Environment Minister Nick Smith and Local Government Minister Rodney Hide.

Mr Neill said the proposal would help fast-track the council's natural resources regional plan and the regional policy statement.

Deputy chairwoman Jo Kane acknowledged the compromise would effectively remove Canterbury ratepayers' ability to have a democratic say in water issues.

"This is a concession, and this is us owning our problem. The ministers for the environment and local government have said they are not interested in public transport, clean heat or any of the other things we do well. If the Government does not accept this compromise, then they were operating under another agenda all along."

Ms Kane said despite the contempt she had for the Environment Ministry's lack of policy guidance on water, ECan were willing to work with them for the good of Canterbury.

"Canterbury has not had the $100 million bail-out that Waikato and Rotorua received to restore its rivers and lakes. We are asking the Environment Ministry to set clear policy and give us the tools in the Resource Management Act to help us."

South Canterbury councillor Bronwen Murray said the right to elect local government representatives should be sacrosanct.

"I feel horrible about this decision because we should not have to be forced to offer this compromise. But the Government has made it very clear they want action. We have to make sure our democratic rights are protected and that people can decide our fate at elections."

Councillors Pat Harrow and Mark Oldfield voted against the proposal. They want the review's recommendations implemented, while councillor Eugenie Sage said the compromise could potentially offer the Government even more ammunition to sack ECan. "I don't think the Creech report provides substantive evidence to sack the council. It manufactures a crisis."

Ms Sage said she understood why other councillors supported the compromise, given the position the Government had put them in.

ECAN RECOMMENDED THE GOVT: Appoints one "commissioner adviser" to run the Resource Management Act functions around water in Canterbury. To support the commissioner adviser, an advisory group would be set up, comprising the ECan chairman, one representative of Ngai Tahu, one member of the Canterbury mayoral forum and two members of the Local Government NZ Regional Affairs committee.

- © Fairfax NZ News