On Thursday 14 April the Mana Branch of the Green Party unanimously selected Titahi Bay resident Robyn Smith to stand for the Porirua-Tawa constituency of Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Robyn joins a slate of Greens standing for Regional and City Councils in the Wellington Region.

Statement from Robyn Smith: Why I’m standing for Regional Council

“Ko ahau ko te taiao, ko te taiao ko ahau (I am the environment and the environment is me). He kawenga ki te whenua, ki ngā uri o ngā ātua (we have a responsibility towards the natural environment

I want to be an elected representative for the Porirua-Tawa constituency for the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) because I support Ngāti Toa’s vision to restore the mauri of Te Awarua-o-Porirua. I want to prevent further biodiversity loss and reduce our region’s carbon emissions.

To achieve these goals, local govt and Ngāti Toa and communities need to work together to protect existing biodiversity and increase the rate of priority plantings in the whole catchment.

There is an urgent need to prevent the pollution of the environment by repairing infrastructure, ensure any negative effects of land use are kept on-site and increase the use of public transport.

We also need to educate the wider public on how biodiversity protection and enhancement will help to mitigate the effects of climate change and help provide community resilience.”

Robyn’s 3 key campaign themes

1. PROTECTING OUR WATERWAYS

• Preventing excessive and unnatural sedimentation of Porirua’s waterways and Te Awarua-o-Porirua. Sedimentation and pollution impacts on the mana of Ngāti Toa Rangatira and the plants and animals which rely on aquatic habitats for food and shelter.
• There is an urgent need for additional funding to plant identified high priority areas in the catchments to prevent sedimentation.
• Consent conditions are required to prevent off-site impacts of large scale earthworks and forest harvesting activities.

1. ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH PUBLIC TRANSPORT

• One of Regional Council’s most significant roles should be on improving reach and access to public transport
• Moving people’s transport choices to convenient, inexpensive and reliable public transport helps Aotearoa/New Zealand meet our climate targets.
• We also need ensure there are enough operators by increasing wages for our public transport operators.

1. PROTECTING OUR TAONGA / SPECIAL NATURAL AREAS

The Porirua region has just 15% of its original extent of forest, and barely 2.3% of wetlands remaining. We need to protect the remaining areas of biodiversity.

As a Regional Councillor Robyn will

• Advocate for Regional Council in partnership with City Councils and private land owners to identify and protect our remaining natural habitats from pests and degradation. We can reduce sedimentation of Te Awarua-o-Porirua by increasing our rate of native species planting and reduce run off from large developments.
• increase partnership funding to control environmental pest plants and animals in biodiversity sites.
• Implement and resource the local strategies of Porirua City Council, Whaitua expert group recommendations, and Ngāti Toa to increase the planting on erosion prone land, river corridors and public lands.

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