HBRC Welcomes Second Land and Water Forum Report

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Chairman Fenton Wilson has welcomed the release of the second Land and Water Forum (LAWF) report, but warns there is still a lot of work to be done.
 
The aim of the second LAWF report is to provide a national framework within which Regional Councils can work with their communities and iwi to set freshwater objectives and develop limits for its use.
 
Fenton Wilson says the report provides a starting point for public discussion and ongoing development of policy around limit setting and allocation.
 
“While it is great to have a collaborative process around developing plans, we believe there needs to be more work done around the role of the Environment Court to ensure faster planning processes,” says Chairman Wilson.
 
He says LAWF’s commitment to setting objectives for the country’s waterways is encouraging, as is the idea of different values and limits for different catchments.
 
“As a regional council we are committed to addressing the water quality challenges in the region and are already looking at options for addressing them, including the extensive work underway on a potential water storage project on the Ruataniwha Plains.”
 
Fenton Wilson says a new national website recently set up to allow the public to find out the state of water quality in rivers around the country is another initiative aimed at improving water quality in waterways.  The new website is at www.landandwater.co.nz.  

ENDS