Egmont National Park as seen from space. Photo / Nasa
Egmont National Park as seen from space. Photo / Nasa
OPINION
When thinking about Taranaki, I often think about the iconic image of the region taken from space.
The photo was taken on a beautiful, clear day 10 years ago by Nasa’s Landsat 8 observation satellite. What’s striking is that Te Papakura o Taranaki, the national park, is seen as a near-perfect ring and it’s a great image to show what impact humans have on the environment.
As a keen tramper, I often see that delineation – it’s hard to miss when you’re driving up to the North Egmont Visitor Centre and go from open road into the forest and enter what the region would have been like thousands of years ago.
That contrast and the state of our environment have been many years in the making. The question we all need to think about now is what we want our place to look like in the future.
There’s no going back to the past. Indeed, our region has one of the highest GDP per capita in the country through the amazing mahi/work of our people across industries such as farming, oil and gas, manufacturing and many others.
But it’s important that we look to the future and what more we can do to protect the environment and ensure Taranaki remains the best region in Aotearoa New Zealand, not just now but for future generations.
Taranaki Regional Council is currently looking ahead to the next 10 years and planning what we can do not only to ensure environmental conditions do not deteriorate but to examine proactively what improvements can be made.
It’s key that we hear from our community to help us put together this plan. By taking part in the 2024-34 Long-Term Plan (LTP) consultation, you will be giving a clear signal of what you want us to do and where you want your rates to be spent.
We have to make this plan every three years, whatever the circumstances and whatever is happening locally and nationally. This plan comes at a time when there is an incredible amount of regulatory reform being introduced by the National-Act-NZ First coalition Government, many of which include repeals of regulations introduced by the last Government.
I know the council has worked as hard as possible to keep rates down but we’re potentially looking at a 16.3 per cent rise in 2024-25. This is higher than in previous LTPs but it’s important to remember that, for most ratepayers, this will be measured in tens of dollars over the year.
Taranaki Regional Council environment officer Chauncy Ardell displays different pest traps at a school holiday activity. Photo / Alyssa Smith
Growing costs and demands, the continuing changes to regulations and the rising expectations from our community that we should be caring and working to protect all aspects of the environment mean we have to raise our budgets to deliver improvements and our plan for the future.
That plan is far from set in stone and now is the time to tell us what you think. We’re particularly looking for feedback on six key issues that are vital to many of our work programmes: how we improve resource management, care for freshwater, address climate change, protect indigenous biodiversity, continue Towards Predator-Free Taranaki mahi/work and possum control.
These areas affect everyone’s day-to-day lives and livelihoods so we’ve got to get our approach right. These are long-term issues and we need long-term planning.
Improving resource management is about how we can plan for the future of the region. Given that central government regulations can be uncertain, we think a coherent and consistent approach to planning is vital for Taranaki and will help protect our natural resources and environment.
We also need to think about how we respond to climate change. We need to take action sooner rather than when it might be too late. The same goes for how we care for freshwater. Although the rules are uncertain, we need a plan to protect this precious resource in the short and longer term.
We’ve seen so much improvement in how we’re protecting biodiversity and controlling predators in recent years. The question now is how we build on this, especially when there is no guarantee of continued external funding for some programmes.
So like that image from space, we’re looking at the big picture. It’s a lot to think about but it’s vital we plan for the future to continue taking our region forward, improving lifestyles and supporting livelihoods.
