GDC agrees with some land-use recommendations, not with recent criticisms

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann says there is a lot of “good stuff” in the  report from the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use but she believed the inquiry report had not covered actions taken by the council in recent years.

She was speaking at a public meeting organised by Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti to discuss the report released on May 12, which the council “slammed” for going outside its terms of reference and its recommendation a commissioner be appointed to take over the council’s resource management functions.

Ms Thatcher Swann said the council believed much could be achieved by working with the community.

Any changes should be made by the community with the support of central government, not led by an appointed commissioner.

In terms of council actions, the GDC  had consistently opposed the National Standards for Plantation Forestry which had created a permissive regime.

Any desire to impose strict rules faced a “really high threshold” and strong opposition from the forestry sector.

Ms Thatcher Swann said the  council had “dramatically” changed its leadership, culture, practices and enforcement.

About $26 million had been invested in overhauling the Tairāwhiti Resource Management Plan.

A taskforce had been formed to seek enforcement through the Environment Court and could work with the task force recommended by the inquiry panel.

The council had reviewed its environmental services and functions.

Compliance monitoring had increased from three resource consent officers to eight compliance officers and two investigating officers.

There had been six successful prosecutions of forestry companies from 2018 storms.

“They were the most significant prosecutions by any council in New Zealand.”

Need to work with the environment not against it

There had been seven prosecutions since and another two were before the courts.

“While we might not agree to the extent the report is critical of the actions  or  inaction of the council, we agree with several recommendations,” she said.

In particular the council approved of the recommended halt to harvesting of Crown forest-licensed  land and transitioning highly erodible land from exotic forests to native forest.

Ms Thatcher Swann said that as the daughter of a “proud Hauitian” father and Waipiro Bay mother, the issue was personal to her.

Inquiry chairwoman Hekia Parata said the district literally had five to 10 years to stop the haemorrhaging of gullies.

Her comment was a continuation of her inquiry report comments, where she said the urgency of the situation across Ngāti Porou was unassailable, and the iwi could become landless and homeless.

Ms Parata told the meeting that a failing and failed infrastructure had long been a characteristic of the region.

Forestry had once been seen as a solution for Tairāwhiti.

The region had to work with the environment, not against it, with a combination of tikanga and science.

Eastland Wood Council chief executive Philip Hope said some forestry companies had done a reasonably good job of cleaning-up, particularly at Gisborne and Tolaga Bay.

But that could not be said of all beaches.

Mr Hope said all parties wanted a solution.

“We have the answers to those questions.”

The meeting was on Monday night at Lawson Field Theatre.