21 November 2013

Parliamentary Commissioner’s Report a Wellington Wake-up Call

UnitedFuture leader and Ohariu MP Peter Dunne is describing the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on water quality and use as a “wake-up call for the Wellington region.”

The Parliamentary Commissioner’s report released this morning warns that by 2020 Wellington will be one of the worst areas in the country form poor water quality caused in the main by dairy run-off.

“Deteriorating water quality and the consequent impacts on public health and wellbeing will pose a major problem for the Wellington region, despite the considerable efforts of the Greater Wellington Regional Council over many years to improve the quality and security of the region’s water supplies,” he says.

Mr Dunne says the neighbouring Horizons Regional Council’s One-Plan promoting sustainable agriculture in its region may be the sort of approach the GWRC will need to take in the future to prevent the scenarios outlined in the Parliamentary Commissioner’s report becoming a reality.

“The GWRC will need to develop its own sustainable agriculture strategy in the light of this report, and working with the Horizons Regional Council on a Wellington version of the One Plan could be the best forward,” he says.

ENDS

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