Council meeting: In brief
Council meeting: In brief
At the Environment Southland council meeting today, several key decisions were made.
Rates
set
Environment Southland today set the rating
level for the 2015/16 financial year, reflecting the core
services and work programmes outlined in the Council’s
Long-term Plan, which was adopted in June. Overall rate
levels, as signalled in the Plan, will go up by 6.5% this
year, with some ratepayers experiencing increases and some
decreases depending on their own property value movements
relative to other Southland properties. The amount being
collected via rates accounts for 51% of Councils revenue for
the year.
Airborne Geophysical Survey
Project Involvement
Today Councillors agreed to
contribute up to $250,000 to the airborne geophysical survey
project being undertaken in Southland over the next two
years. The survey will be a complement to the work being
done on the physiographic zones and the Council’s science
programme.
Environmental Enhancement Fund
approval
Councillors agreed to approve a grant
of $10,180 for Charlie and Emma Smaill from the
Environmental Enhancement Fund. The grant amounts to 50% of
the total cost of work the couple plan to use to undertake
weed control on the Glenlapa Station, particularly for
gorse, broom and woody weeds such as hawthorn on the edges
of four proposed QEII covenants totalling 141.3ha.
Invoicing annual charges
Council
today adopted a policy that outlines when annual charges
will be invoiced and how they will be applied for consent
holders. The policy aims to ensure a consistent approach to
how and when annual charges are applied so that applicants
know what charges they will incur when they apply for a
resource consent.
Forest and Bird
declaration
At the Council meeting today,
Councillors directed staff not to join Forest and Bird’s
declaratory judgement proceedings, but to keep a watching
brief on these proceedings. Forest and Bird are seeking to
have the Environment Court declare that excreta from animals
are a discharge under legislation. The judgement could have
wide ranging impacts on regional councils as it would mean
that animal extreta would require a discharge permit if no
rule existed in a plan or national environmental standard to
permit the activity.
Indigenous Vegetation
Clearance
Feedback following field days for hill
and high country development in 2014 clearly showed that
there was significant confusion within the rural community
about which council is the controlling authority in regard
to indigenous vegetation clearance. Council made a
commitment to discuss the issues with the Southland
District, Gore District and Invercargill City Councils.
These discussions have been underway with staff from all
councils and today four councillors were appointed to
commence more formal discussions with Southland District
Council on how the indigenous vegetation clearance process
and responsibilities could be managed forward. They are
Councillors Rodway, Horrell, Riddell and
Cockburn.
ENDS