Council asks for Treaty costs

Environment Waikato wants the Government to pay for switching Waikato River management regimes as a result of a pending Treaty settlement.

But that is unlikely to happen.

Waikato-Tainui and the Crown today sign a revised $210 million deal, which creates a new "co-management" board responsible for cleaning up the polluted waterway.

Peter Buckley is the chairman of the regional council with responsibility for the river.

This week he wrote to Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson outlining major concerns about the settlement's implications for ratepayers.

Funds were originally set aside for supporting the new era before the minister reviewed the settlement and simplified it, Mr Buckley said.

But it was now unclear who would foot the bill for change now.

"It would be a significant boost to local government were you able to make available funds to transition councils into the new regime of co-management.

"Both the regional council and the territorial authorities consider that these costs should not be passed on to the ratepayers."

Environment Waikato estimated it had incurred $230,000 of settlement-related costs it wanted reimbursed through the Office of Treaty Settlements. However, with other settlements pending in the region, it was probably likely to face similar costs in the next two to four years.

Other concerns outlined in the letter include whether $7 million over 30 years will be enough to change behaviours and land use to achieve the settlement's aim of cleaning up the river, and fears about Environment Waikato access to important flood protection assets such as stopbanks.

A spokesman for Mr Finlayson said that there would be no "transition period," instead co-governance would take effect once the bill passed into law.

The Government had already given $50,000 but nothing else was contemplated as the Office of Treaty Settlements "does not accept the settlement process has cost Environment Waikato $230,000 beyond its normal operations".