HBRC hears verbal submissions to Annual Plan

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will spend two days hearing and considering submissions to its draft Annual Plan 2016-17 and the proposed 2015-2025 Long Term Plan amendment.

The Council received 192 submissions to Our Plan 2016-17, with 46 submitters asking to speak at next week’s hearing.

The bulk of the submissions related to a proposal for HBRC to contract to take four million cubic metres of water a year from the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme for environmental flows into the Tukituki River. Under the proposal the Council would receive water free for the first seven years, then pay for four million cubic metres of water a year at a cost of $36.9 million over 35 years.

138 submissions were against the proposal, while nine supported it and one was in favour of on-farm water storage.

Other topics covered in submissions included the Council’s ownership of Wellington leasehold land and boosting the Council’s land management team in response to growing demand from land users.

The Council will spend next Wednesday hearing the verbal submissions and Thursday considering all the submissions before deciding on any changes to the 2015-2025 Long Term Plan and draft Annual Plan 2016-17.

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will meeting on Wednesday 8 June from 8.30am and again on Thursday 9 June from 9am to hear and consider submissions. The meetings will be held in the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Chamber, 159 Dalton Street, Napier.

ENDS

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