Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Privatising environmental decisions will cost

Privatising environmental decisions will cost the environment and the public

Forcing councils to contract out regulatory functions such as issuing resource consents is likely to cost the environment and the public, the Green Party said today.

When Environment Minister Nick Smith said at this weekend's National Party conference that he could force councils to contract out regulatory functions, he seemed to have forgotten that past experiences doing this very thing has been a disaster.

"We need environmental decision makers to operate in an open, transparent and democratically accountable way in order to protect our environment and the places New Zealanders treasure most," said Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage.

"There is a major concern that if private, profit-driven companies are to be involved in environmental regulation and making resource consent decisions about new quarries, irrigation takes, discharges, subdivision, marine farming and activities that affect land, water and the coast, protection of the environment will be at the bottom of the list.

"Contracting our regulatory functions will make councils less accountable to citizens for the state of the local environment.

"With the last week's series of disasters involving the privatisation of prisons, it doesn't make sense to be talking about privatising even more services that should be kept in public hands.

"In 2007, Queenstown Lakes District Council had to pay more than $3m to buy private company CivicCorp to bring its RMA consent processing and other regulatory functions back inhouse.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"CivicCorp was then the largest local government contracting company of its type in New Zealand.

"There had been long running disputes between QLDC and the CivicCorp about the company's poor performance and unacceptably high level of profit. Council had to bring its regulatory functions back inhouse to improve the services and so the council was able to carry out its statutory functions under RMA and other legislation.

"Forcing councils to privatise their regulatory roles is another attack on local democracy by having Ministers direct how councils should operate," said Ms Sage.

ENDS


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.