Alan Dick.
Last Thursday I attended the finale of the election campaign meetings organised by the four Hastings Regional Councillors, - promoting opposition to the Ruataniwha Water Storage Project (RWSS) "the Dam".
My congratulations to councillors Barker, Beaven, Belford and Graham for their initiative - well-rehearsed, persuasive and stage managed.
So well stage managed that no opinion contrary to theirs was to be tolerated. Being denied the chance to express differing views, I left the meeting.
Despite their eloquent and persuasive offering, the fatal flaw was that while about 10 per cent of their argument was factual, the rest was at best biased opinion, was all refutable and generally demonstrably wrong.
What is their motive?
After championing amalgamation and losing badly - are they promoting amalgamation in disguise? - specifically to gain control of the HB Regional Council in this year's elections?
The prize is great! - Control of the Regional Council means control of water - its regulation and allocation policy.
Let's not forget that these councillors had substantial support at the last election from Hastings corporate growers and orchardists - all major and thirsty water users.
I hope I'm wrong, but we will see.
As to the reality of the RWSS (Dam) issue.
True it has been a tortuous process.
Delayed and made much more expensive by the legal challenges and tactics of so-called environmental lobbies like Fish and Game and Forest and Bird, - ideologically opposed to farming and particularly irrigation.
Regrettably they are clearly determined to ignore the major environmental gains offered by the project and the new strict environmental rules resulting from the Council's accompanying Plan Change 6.
However, the issues remain fundamentally simple:
- The Project offers a once-in-a-lifetime, transformational opportunity for economic and environmental gain for our workers, our children and our grandchildren. Eventually 2500 sustainable new jobs, mostly not on farm, but spread across the region in food processing and the service industries. A far more balanced and sustainable regional economy.
- Two essential preconditions have been achieved. i.e. workable consents with environmental safeguards are in place and a fixed-price construction contract is secured.
- All that is now required is for two further preconditions to be met, i.e: Firstly, completion of pending agreement with a partnering investor, to supplement the Regional Council's capped $80 million investment and the Government's Crown Irrigation Investments (CIIL) contribution.
Secondly, and most importantly, final commitment by farmers, other water users with their professional advisers to commit initially to 45 million cu meters of water - which will have the project cash flow positive from day one, with no call ever on ratepayers and major financial benefits in the long run - which could even dwarf the present contribution of the Port of Napier.
Let's not get excited by the doomsayers.
Rational decisions based on clear evidence will be made fairly soon this year.
If the preconditions are met, we owe it to the people of Hawke's Bay to get on with the job.
- Alan Dick is a Hawke's Bay Regional Councillor (Napier constituency) and former Mayor of Napier
- Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz