Please find below Environment Bay of Plenty’s media release package for the Draft Ten Year Plan 2009-19.

MEDIA RELEASE

Prudent approach leads to general rate decrease
For immediate release: 23 March 2009
There will be a general rates decrease for Environment Bay of Plenty ratepayers this year with only slight increases in 2010/11 and 2011/12.

The general rates will decrease 2.4 percent next year, an increase of 3.4 percent the following year and an increase of 2.4 percent in 2011/12. In keeping the general rates at the lowest possible level, Environment Bay of Plenty’s Chairman John Cronin said that some targeted rates would increase for specific areas of work.

Chairman Cronin said Council expected to spend about $69 million with more than 66 percent of the money required to fund work to come from investment income, other government funding and user fees and charges. This means less than one-third is coming from general and targeted rates on our ratepayers.

The council’s draft Ten Year Plan is out for public consultation and Chairman Cronin urged ratepayers to give their views on the plan’s proposed work programmes for the next three years. The plan also contains a broader outline of work planned for the following seven years.

“In working through our Ten Year Plan we have squeezed spending and budgets as much as we can in recognition of the current economic downturn and the need to keep rates as affordable as possible,” he said.

“We have pushed some work out to later years and tapped into our Port of Tauranga investment income to ensure we were prudent and responsible to our ratepayers. The draft Plan proposes targeted rates for some areas and a new targeted rate to help fund improvements in Rotorua’s air quality.

The work that will be partly funded through targeted rates are improving and providing passenger transport, helping to reduce air quality problems in Rotorua, restoring and protecting Rotorua lakes (particular focus on four priority lakes being Rotorua, Rotoiti, Rotoehu and Okareka), providing and maintaining flood management within flood-prone districts.

Some examples of annual overall rate decreases and increases (based on average land value for specific areas) for various areas of the region are Opotiki increases less than $1; Whakatane decreases almost $1.50; Tauranga increases just over $20 and Rotorua just over $30.

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New fund proposed in tough economic times
For immediate release: 23 March 2009
Environment Bay of Plenty has released its draft Ten Year Plan and is urging ratepayers to have their say on the major new projects and important changes it contains.

“Council has a key role throughout the Bay of Plenty on everything from bus transport to protecting the health of our streams, rivers and harbours so it is vital we plan carefully for the future,” said Environment Bay of Plenty Chairman John Cronin.

“A key part of the Ten Year Plan process is listening to our community’s views on whether we have our work priorities right and whether they support the projects we are proposing.”

Given the current economic situation, Council had taken a prudent approach to planning.

“We have kept costs as low as possible by reducing work in some areas and delaying it in others so that rates could be kept as affordable as possible,” he said.

An important new activity proposed in the draft Plan is the setting up of a Regional Infrastructure Fund, which will make between $20 million and $40 million available across the next 10 years for significant regional public infrastructure projects being undertaken by external parties.

“Environment Bay of Plenty has a key role in stimulating economic growth to protect jobs and ensure our region continues to prosper and we want to know whether this new fund is something the community supports,” Councillor Cronin said.

In addition to the new fund, other key areas of work where there are changes in the funding or the work Council will do are Rotorua lakes, passenger transport, Rotorua air, rivers and drainage schemes and land management.

Council was also asking residents for feedback on Environmental Education and Recreation and Open Space. Tauranga Harbour is not listed in the draft Plan as a specific area of work, however there is significant strategic and operational activities being carried out in and around this area.

“The harbour is a prized asset for our region and our work on a wide range of projects in this area is detailed in this plan.”

In addition to seeking feedback from the community on the draft Ten Year Plan during April, Council will also be asking residents to respond changes that it is proposing to the monitoring and consent charges under the Resource Management Act.

Council is also asking the community to give some feedback to other key documents including Navigation Safety Bylaws and a Regional Land Transport Programme.

The Navigation Safety Bylaws have been reviewed and we are proposing some changes. Council has produced the first Regional Land Transport Programme, which prioritises projects across the region. All of these key documents are due to be adopted by Council before 30 June 2009.

Submission forms will be available online through the Council’s website and in each of the draft documents. Submissions open on 30 March 2009 and close on 30 April 2009.

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Ratepayers with highest nutrient loss to pay more for Rotorua lakes
For immediate release: 23 March 2009

As part of its commitment to protecting and restoring the Rotorua Lakes, Environment Bay of Plenty is proposing to increase the targeted rate for rural ratepayers based on land-use and the impact their properties have on water quality.

It is proposed that dairying in the Rotorua lakes catchment, which has the highest nutrient leaching rate into our lakes, would pay $26 per hectare targeted rate towards the improvement of Rotorua lakes. In addition, the Council will be working during the forthcoming year to establish a fair per hectare rate for other rural landowners relative to their level of nutrient leeching to the lakes for introduction in 2010/2011.

In the past, dairy farmers have paid the same targeted rate as rural landowners with forestry, dry stock and bush – despite the fact their operations leech more nutrients into the lakes.

The Rotorua lakes programme targeted rates for the 2009/2010 financial year are proposed to be:
• Under 2ha remains the same as the previous year at $86 per year, which is predominantly the urban area of Rotorua;
• Between 2ha to 10ha to increase from $165 to $173;
• Over 10ha to increase from $496 to $545.91; and
• Dairy water discharge permit holders will be charged at $26 per hectare and for rating units over 1,000ha charged at $1 per hectare.

Rotorua Lakes Joint Committee Chairman Neil Oppatt said the $26 per hectare has come from advice given by the Rotorua Lakes Review Working Party, which included farming representatives. The $26 per hectare is an amount close to what the working party believed was a fair apportionment to be made by landowners who primary activity is dairy farming.

“To date, ratepayers in urban Rotorua have been subsidising more than 80 percent of the cost, yet a high percentage of the nutrients being leached into the lakes are from dairy farms, so it is only fair that they pay a greater proportion of the rate,” Councillor Oppatt said.

One significant piece of work that has already been implemented to help improve water quality in one of the Rotorua lakes, is the Ohau Channel Diversion Wall, which was finished late last year.

Other major work that will be completed under this programme during the next 10 years includes:
 Implementing the Tikitere water treatment system;
 Land-use change in catchments of lakes Rotorua, Okareka and Rotoehu to help reduce nitrogen and phosphorus levels;
 Phosphorus locking in Awahou Stream;
 Wetland construction and weed harvesting in Lake Rotoehu;
 Providing a sewage subsidy for Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti and Rotoma, to assist Rotorua District Council provide reticulation sewerage for these communities;
 Sediment capping in Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti;
 Building the Hamurana Stream diversion; and
 Working with Rotorua lakes community to look for initiatives for land-use change.

Environment Bay of Plenty, Rotorua District Council and the Government have signed a funding deed for $144.4 million that covers four priority lakes – Rotorua, Rotoiti, Rotoehu and Okareka. Our commitment is $39.8 million for those four lakes.

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Background
Council receives a 50 percent Central Government grant for works named in the Rotorua Lakes Protection and Restoration Action Plan funding deed, while the remaining programme costs will be funded 44 percent from general funds and 56 percent from targeted rates (Rotorua District).

Council introduced a lakes targeted rate three years ago and is continuing to investigate the best way to collect the targeted rate component of the funding needed for the Rotorua Lakes Programme. To date we have used a land area approach. This approach does not recognise the relative contributions of different land use types, such as dairy farming, pastoral farming and forestry, in terms of their nutrient inputs that affect lake water quality. The main share of the rate continues to be sourced from residential ratepayers as beneficiaries of clean lakes while those whose nutrient inputs contribute to the problem, the exacerbators, pay a smaller proportion.

Council has been investigating how nutrient loss could be used as a method for apportioning rates, within the strict constraints of the rating legislation we operate under. We are working through a process that will move us towards our goal of levying rates based on the overall principle that the amount of targeted rate paid should be proportionate to the nutrients leached from the property. At the same time those who benefit from clean lakes would also continue to make a contribution.

This Ten Year Plan introduces an interim step for 2009/10, a lakes targeted rate made up of two differential rates. The first differential is a fixed targeted rate based on the property’s area of land and is split into three categories: less than two hectares; from two hectares up to 10 hectares; and 10 hectares and over. The second rate is additional to the fixed targeted rate and applies only to farmers who hold dairy water discharge consent permits. This is because their farms leach more nutrients into the lakes than other non-dairy rural uses. Two different per hectare rates apply to dairy farmers with water discharge consent permits and they are based on a set amount per hectare for rating units under 1,000 hectares and a lesser amount per hectare for rating units over 1000 hectares.

During 2009/10 Council will continue its investigations. The final step in due course is to levy the targeted rate based on land use, not just on property owners who hold dairy water discharge consent permits. At this time we do not have a method that will given us enough certainty on land use type to allow us to meet the strict tests of rating legislation. We hope to be able to progress this step in the near future to include land use types that would cover all properties 10 hectares and above. This step would take account of the nutrient inputs generated by the property and remove the need for a fixed base charge for properties ten hectares and above.

Council will introduce further steps in its Rotorua lakes targeted rate process through future Annual Plan/Ten Year Plan processes.

New targeted rate to combat Rotorua’s air pollution
For immediate release: 23 March 2009
As part of its Ten Year Plan, Environment Bay of Plenty is looking to introduce a targeted rate for all urban ratepayers in Rotorua to help fund actions to help reduce the city’s air pollution and meet national standards.

Rotorua’s air is among the worst in New Zealand and is the worst in the North Island. Sixty percent of the city’s air pollution comes from domestic sources, in particular fires for home heating and back yard burning; 24 percent from industry and 12 percent from transport. It is not from the natural geothermal features of the region.

Sixty tonnes of fine particles need to be removed from the air in order to meet the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality by 2013.

Rotorua Air Joint Committee Chairman Neil Oppatt said the targeted rate for 2009/10 of $30.74 per urban ratepayer will help fund actions in Rotorua Air Quality Action Plan. Council is proposing to spend about $1 million in operating expenditure in the first year; $1.5 million in the second year; and $1.6 million in the third year of the draft Ten Year Plan.

The targeted rate will fund 80 percent of the total amount of money needed to implement the Rotorua Air Quality Action Plan; the remaining 20 percent will be funded through general rates. Some of the actions include:
 Offering homeowners loans for home heating conversions in Rotorua;
 Assessing and managing industrial emissions in Rotorua; and
 Working with Rotorua District Council to implement local air quality bylaws.

Rotorua exceeded the national standard 29 times between September 2006 and August 2007. The figures for 2008 tell a worse story. Environment Bay of Plenty figures show that Rotorua’s air quality exceeded the national standard 49 times in 2008.

The greater the number, the more days that the levels of dangerous fine particles in the air are at a level that could impact on people’s health, including respiratory problems and asthma in the young and elderly.

Passenger transport to get even better
For immediate release: 23 March 2009

The targeted rate for passenger transport in Rotorua and Tauranga is set to increase to enable Environment Bay of Plenty to continue to expand the bus services for residents in the region and encourage more people to use the buses more often.

Environment Bay of Plenty Transport Committee Chairman Andrew von Dadelszen said passenger transport was a key area of the Council’s work that enabled many people to move around the region in a sustainable manner.

Bus services in both Tauranga and Rotorua area well used and passenger numbers are continuing to increase every year.

Central Government funding and user fees will provide the funding for 50 percent of this work with the remaining money required to be split 30 percent from general rates and 70 percent from targeted rates for urban Rotorua ratepayers and Tauranga ratepayers respective to the services in these areas.

“Sustainable transport for the future involves enabling, and making available, a range of safe and reliable transportation modes, with regard to the increasing need for economic efficiency and environmental sustainability,” Councillor von Dadelszen said.

Until the end of the current financial year, Tauranga City Council and Rotorua District Council had funded 10 percent of the services respective to their locations. For 2009/10 onwards this funding will not be provided so Environment Bay of Plenty will absorb these costs.

“This equates to about $5 per ratepayer in Tauranga and about $3 for Rotorua ratepayers that was being paid to their respective local councils, which we will now have to absorb,” he said.

For operating expenditure in this area, Council is proposing to spend about $13 million in the first year, about $14.8 million in the second year and about $17.6 million in the third year of this draft plan.

In Rotorua the targeted rate will be $41.06 in 2009/10, increasing to $47.27 in 2010/11 and $48.05 in 2011/12. In Tauranga the targeted rate will be $56.05 in 2009/10, increasing to $62.83 in 2010/11 and $77.85 in 2011/12.

Some of the major work that will be completed includes:
 Providing a reliable, regular and safe bus services in Rotorua and Tauranga;
 Delivering rural bus services with an increasing number of accessible buses;
 Working with Rotorua District Council and Tauranga City Council to ensure that bus service infrastructure is provided;
 Working in partnership with city and district councils to deliver public transport initiatives;
 Supporting national road safety programmes and cycling and walking initiatives; and
 Delivering sustainable transport campaigns annually.

In Rotorua last year, Environment Bay of Plenty introduced hourly Sunday services; later weekday services; more accessible low-floor buses on the Ngongotaha, polytechnic and airport route; more buses to and from Murupara; and free off-peak travel for SuperGold cardholders.

Passengers in Tauranga can expect new and improved services, a service on all public holidays except Christmas Day, Sunday buses, later week day services and bigger, more accessible low-floor buses, as part of the new contract with Go Bus.

A 2008 Satisfaction Survey of bus users found:
 Overall services were excellent or very good – Tauranga 81 percent and Rotorua 86 percent; and
 Value for money was excellent or very good – Tauranga 89 percent and Rotorua 92 percent.

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People who benefit to totally fund scheme costs
For immediate release: 23 March 2009
As part of its Ten Year Plan, Environment Bay of Plenty is proposing to introduce targeted rates for its rivers and drainage schemes so that those that directly benefit from their protection are paying for them.

Under this proposal rivers scheme costs will continue to be funded 20 percent from general funds while costs for scheme management and engineering analysis that were previously subsidised through general funds will be treated as scheme costs.

This means that a ratepayer in the urban Te Puke class (TP1) of the Kaituna scheme for example can expect to pay $2.20 per 100 square metres of property area for the first year. A rural ratepayer in the Lower Kaituna scheme (class A1P) can expect to pay $135 per hectare of property for the first year.

Environment Bay of Plenty’s Operations Committee Chairman Malcolm Whitaker said the funds would go towards the ongoing management of the six major rivers and drainage schemes and 37 minor schemes, which work to reduce the risk of damage to people, property and their livelihoods.

The Ten Year Plan states what the money will be used for and outlines that Environment Bay of Plenty will:
• Continue to manage six major river and drainage schemes including vegetation and culvert clearance, fencing maintenance and replacement, rock edge protection maintenance works, floodgate and pumping station inspections;
• Continue to manage flood events, operate the public flood warning system and provide flood warnings to the regional community;
• Provide general flood protection advice, hydrologic modelling, clear drains and stabilise stream banks for selected priority non-scheme areas;
• Undertake flood risk management through development and review of Floodplain Management Strategies and flood hazard maps; and
• Monitor the levels of lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti and manage the lake level control structures.

“Rivers, drainage and flood management is a key area of our work and it significantly contributes to social, environmental and economic well-beings,” Councillor Whitaker said.

“We’ll also provide affordable flood protection to priority flood-prone areas not within a scheme. Our flood protection role for areas outside of the schemes include stream bank erosion control, enhancing waterways by planting native vegetation, protection fencing of waterways and stream outlet management for priority areas.”

Refocusing service levels in land management
For immediate release: 23 March 2009
As part of its Ten Year Plan, Environment Bay of Plenty is looking to refocus its levels of service being provided under the present sustainable land management, pest animal and pest plant activities.

Particular emphasis will be given to supporting landowner and community group initiatives to protect the region’s significant native forests, wetlands, dune systems and other important natural habitats and ecosystems.

Council is proposing that the focus for funding progressively moves to protecting native flora and fauna while moving away from funding riparian management and erosion control.

Continued attention will be given to controlling pest plants and pest animals on a pest-led basis across the region where this can be done cost-effectively.

Environment Bay of Plenty Deputy Chairman Philip Sherry said that Council would be providing in-depth advice to landowners and industry groups on managing any adverse impacts of their operations on the region’s waterways, harbours, natural habitats and soils.

“This includes advice on nutrient management, sediment and erosion control, soil health and on building resilience to climate change,” Deputy Chairman Sherry said.

The Ten Year Plan outlines that Environment Bay of Plenty will:
• Protect significant natural areas by supporting fencing and ongoing pest control through working with landowners and community group initiatives;
• Provide a pest-led approach across the region wherever this can be done cost-effectively;
• Develop catchment or sub-catchment plans to encourage landowners to reduce nutrients, erosion and sedimentation and improve resilience to climate change;
• Work alongside Maori to address land and water resource management issues; and
• Transfer our knowledge of soil management effectively to landowners and community groups.

“We want to work towards keeping our streams and waterways clean, maintaining and improving soil quality and preventing pests like didymo and wallabies from destroying our beautiful region. Throughout all these activities we are ensuring the sustainable development of our region,” Deputy Chairman Sherry said.

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Council allocating money towards public infrastructure in region
For immediate release: 23 March 2009
Environment Bay of Plenty is proposing to allocate between $20 million and $40 million to a Regional Infrastructure Fund to help third parties, including city and district councils, build and renew public infrastructure within the region.

The money would be allocated across a 10-year period with funding starting in 2011. These funds must be used for capital expenditure and cannot be used for rates relief for operational expenditure.

Environment Bay of Plenty Chairman John Cronin said that establishing a regional fund will assist external parties to build significant infrastructure to improve the Bay of Plenty.

“For more than two years the regional council has been considering ways to leverage the capital potential of its 100 per cent ownership of Quayside Holdings Limited to assist the development of infrastructure in the Bay of Plenty,” Chairman Cronin said.

“Much of the consideration has been developing the thinking around establishing and operating a regional infrastructure fund that would receive applications from external parties including city and district councils, to build and/or renew public infrastructure within the region to Environment Bay of Plenty,” he said.

“Assisting this type of development would contribute to the four well-beings – social, economic, environmental and cultural – of the Bay of Plenty community.”

In January last year 200 million perpetual preferential shares in Quayside Holdings Limited were publicly offered. The offer was fully subscribed in March 2008 and $200 million was raised through this process.

It is expected that $20 million to $40 million (subject to economic circumstances) of that money will be made available to the regional infrastructure fund across at least 10 years. The remainder will be used for Environment Bay of Plenty infrastructure projects.

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