District council ‘fundamentally disagrees’ with parts of land inquiry panel’s damning report

Ministerial inquiry panel chair Hekia Parata at a news conference today where she released the panel’s report. Picture by Liam Clayton

Recommendations released today from the ministerial inquiry into land use here have been slammed by Mayor Rehette Stoltz after it found the council was in “dereliction of duty”.

“We are extremely disappointed in the findings of the panel and we fundamentally disagree with several recommendations in the report,” Mayor Stoltz said.

“We also have serious concerns with the unsubstantiated commentary in the report as well as commentary which is outside the scope of the inquiry’s Terms of Reference.

“We went into this inquiry in good faith with a view to working to ensure that in implementing the recommendations, we had the best interests of our community at heart.

“This is incredibly disappointing.”

“I will be talking to ministers about the report and will not be commenting further until these discussions have occurred.”

The inquiry’s panel found that “the forest industry has lost its social licence in Tairāwhiti due to a culture of poor practices — facilitated by the Gisborne District Council’s capitulation to the permissiveness of the regulatory regime — and its under-resourced monitoring and compliance.

“Together these factors have caused environmental damage, particularly to land and waterways, and they have put the health and safety of people and their environment at risk.”

The panel’s final report also recommended appointing a commissioner to assume responsibility for the resource management functions of Gisborne District Council and to oversee new regional spatial strategies and natural and built environment plans.

The panel found that lives and livelihoods were put at risk.

“People were isolated and suffered trauma to their social, emotional and mental health. Woody debris and sediment caused destructive debris flows and resulted in widespread damage to properties, infrastructure and ecosystems. These symptoms of failure, weaponised by cyclonic winds and weather bombs, have created an emergency and require urgent clean-up action.”

The report acknowledged that Wairoa and Gisborne district councils had slim ratings bases that made it impossible for them to deliver on their full purpose.

“In these circumstances, trade-offs are inevitable. Wise judgement and strong, inclusive leadership are critical.

“Unfortunately, the GDC has made several significant poor choices that have put people and the environment at severe risk, as well as failing to meet core business requirements.

“Climate change has increased the complexity of stewardship of the environment and the wellbeing of people, demanding exceptional capability to meet future stewardship challenges. Regional leadership and governance require a collaboration between local government and mana whenua — as envisaged by legislative reform — which must be established forthwith.”

The report further found that the balance of GDC’s TRMP provisions (including the Regional Policy Statement) had been in place for more than 10 years, and in some cases for more than 20 years. That was “a failure of the GDC’s core planning requirements, and legal responsibilities”.

Referring to the degradation of the region’s rivers by extremely high sediment loads, apparent for at least 20 years, the reports finding were brutal.

“The resulting sediment and debris contamination of the districts coastal environments is now common. This is all a reflection of the failure by GDC to provide its communities with planning instruments that are fit for purpose. This dereliction of duty is visible in the state of the land, water, beaches and infrastructure.”

The report also said  GDC “appears to have done nothing to implement the 2010 New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement”.

“The GDC has also unilaterally determined not to collaborate with mana whenua — deciding instead to establish separate networks and conduct its communication through local media.

“This is neither Treaty-based partnership, nor recognition that over half the district’s population is Maori, most of whom are tangata whenua to one or more of the local iwi. This gratuitous use of its power as a territorial local authority flies in the face of its responsibility to enable democratic local decision-making and action by, and on behalf of, communities.

“The urgency of the challenges for Tairāwhiti, their people and communities, their infrastructure, land use, forestry and emergency weather events support the need to transition to strategic leadership to enable the region to firstly recover, then to thrive,” the report said.

The  inquiry panel recommended the urgent appointment of an RMA commissioner to exercise the RMA functions, powers and duties of the district council.

Other recommendations were —

■ The establishment of the Tairāwhiti regional planning committee in Tranche 1 under the new Spatial Planning Act legislation.

■ Appoint a Crown facilitator with in-depth local Tairāwhiti knowledge to support the Resource Management Act commissioner in the speedy transition of Tairāwhiti Post-settlement Governance Entity Treaty settlements into the Tranche 1 programme.

■ Appoint a commissioner for delivery and establish a delivery and governance model to oversee all of the government resourcing related to this inquiry (and potentially the wider

recovery) based in Tairāwhiti. The delivery entity needs to ensure accountability for the government spend and alignment with the vision and planning framework (ie, Regional

■ Spatial Strategy, Regional Plan and Resilience Plan), and prioritise and coordinate delivery. Ministers should consider establishing this through an Order in Council under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act, and whether it includes appropriate fast-tracking of central government powers and cost sharing arrangements. The regional planning committee, or similar model, should be considered as a suitable governance arrangement.

■ Ensure ongoing accountability to the public by putting in place a monitoring regime that reports on progress implementing all actions and programmes established following this inquiry, and on whether it is adequately addressing the problems identified. It should report 12 months, 24 months, and two yearly after that.

The report has been presented to the two lead ministers, David Parker and Peeni Henare.

“The impact of slash on the East Coast communities has been devastating. More than 10,000 Tairāwhiti people petitioned for land use to be better managed. This report responds to that call,” Mr Parker said.

“We thank the panel for its excellent work in preparing this major report in such a short timeframe. Our special thanks go to the Tairāwhiti and Wairoa communities, who were so generous in sharing their concerns and aspirations.

“The panel received 318 submissions, many of them substantial. The report has been delivered on time after ministers agreed a short extension to allow time for the panel to properly consider the high volume of submissions.

“Ministers will now promptly and carefully consider the report and make decisions on its recommendations, to be announced as soon as possible,” Mr Parker said.

The report would immediately inform the current review of the National Environmental Standards on plantation forestry, he said.