20 December 2013

Upper Waitaki Zone Committee appoints new community members

Two new community members have been appointed to the Upper Waitaki Zone Committee as part of a process to refresh its community membership.

The new members are Lisa Anderson who works for Lincoln University and has strong ties with the local farming community, and Jay Graybill who is the Chief Executive of Central South Island Fish and Game.

Each of Canterbury’s ten zone committees has four to seven community members, an Environment Canterbury Commissioner, Councillors from the relevant district Council, and Rūnanga representatives.

Christina Robb, Programme Manager Canterbury Water Management Strategy, said the selection process focussed on finding people who can see others’ points of views and who can work collaboratively to find solutions for water issues.

“The Canterbury Water Management Strategy is an innovative approach to managing fresh water. It’s about finding the best ways to restore our environment and provide for viable farming and communities throughout the region.

“It will help to ensure safe drinking water supplies, sustainable farming practices and clean rivers and streams, as well as enhancing recreational opportunities and protecting environment and cultural values.

“We are pleased with the quality of the applicants and we’re sure we have found good balance of community representatives who are passionate about making a positive difference in local water management,” she said.

The zone committee refreshment process requires two community members from six of the ten zone committees to put their names forward to be refreshed each year. The remaining four zone committees have already had recent community membership changes.

This means community membership terms are staggered to ensure there is an opportunity for new perspectives on the water management committees. Existing members were able to put their names forward for re-selection.

Over the past year the Upper Waitaki Zone Committee has been focussed on working with the community to develop water quality limits for the zone. These limits will be incorporated into a Waitaki specific chapter in Environment Canterbury’s proposed Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP).

The committee has identified a set of outcomes that it is seeking to achieve, which are influenced by, or influence, water quality. These are based on its Zone Implementation Programme for water management, and they will be used to ‘test’ various scenarios to set the scene for community discussions and zone committee recommendations.

Work with the community on scenario development is already underway and the committee hopes to be able to test the scenarios with the community later in 2014, before they are translated in to a formal plan in mid-2015.

The other community members on the Upper Waitaki Zone Committee are Barry Shepherd, Matthew Bayliss, Ann Steven, and Simon Cameron. Bill Chisholm and Mike Neilsen have left the committee as part of the refreshment process.

Biographies for zone committee members can be found on the Upper Waitaki page at www.ecan.govt.nz/canterburywater.

ENDS

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