Committee appoints new members to Lake Taupo Protection Trust

Two new trustees have been appointed to the Lake Taupo Protection Trust (LTPT).

Both from Taupo, they are former Taupo District Council mayor Clayton Stent and farmer Mike Barton.

The LTPT was set up in 2007 by Environment Waikato, the Government, Taupo District Council and the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board to help protect Lake Taupo’s water quality.

Three trustees must retire by rotation every three years, but they can be reappointed.

Existing trust members Sue Yerex, a Turangi farmer, Jeremy Rickman, a Hamilton businessman, and Gerald Fitzgerald, a Wellington lawyer, put their names forward for retirement and sought reappointment this year.

All three were all reappointed by the Lake Taupo Protection Project joint committee, comprising Environment Waikato chairman Peter Buckley, Environment Waikato deputy chairman John Fisher, Taupo mayor Rick Cooper, Taupo District Councillor Don Ormsby, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry representative Phil Journeaux, Ministry for the Environment representative Kevin Currie, and Tuwharetoa representatives George Asher and Ian Kusabs.

Joint committee chairman Peter Buckley congratulated the successful applicants, who had emerged from an “outstanding” field of 17 candidates.

“We are fortunate to be able to retain the skills and knowledge of the trust’s existing members, who are working together very successfully, while introducing two new trustees with great local knowledge and fresh ideas,” Chairman Buckley said.

“The work of the trust is critical to successfully changing high-nitrogen-leaching land uses in the Taupo catchment to low-nitrogen-leaching uses with the long-term goal of protecting water quality in Lake Taupo.”

LTPT chairman John Kneebone said Mr Stent, a practicing lawyer, and Mr Barton, a farmer, would provide greater local representation on the trust and complement its existing skill set.

“They will provide a strong contribution to the activities of the trust in the Taupo catchment. We are delighted to welcome them aboard and wish them well in their new role.”

The other members of the LTPT are retired Cambridge farmer John Kneebone (chairman), Hamilton agricultural consultant Colin Horton and New Zealand Forest Managers planning manager John Hura.

The LTPT is using an $81 million fund contributed by Environment Waikato, the Government and Taupo District Council to reduce the amount of manageable nitrogen entering Lake Taupo by at least 20 per cent over 15 years. This complex and challenging task will need to see 154 tonnes of nitrogen removed from the catchment by 2019.

It is making good progress towards this goal, recently purchasing five Taupo farms that will allow approximately 23 tonnes of nitrogen to be removed from the catchment.

Mr Stent will join the trust on July 1 and Mr Barton in January next year, after he has retired from his current position as chairman of the Taupo Lakecare group.

ENDS