Editorial: Council restores some order

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

After finding themselves in the firing line this month, Horizons regional councillors and staff restored some order at their meeting in Palmerston North on Tuesday.

The council voted to add the "H' to Whanganui and so make its official title the Manawatu-Whanganui Regional Council.

How the "H" had gone missing is a little perplexing - as a local government body it would have fallen under last year's ruling that all government agencies should move toward adopting the controversial consonant after the district's name was officially changed.

The police, courts, health board and all government ministries and assorted quasi-government organisations have taken up the "Whanganui" spelling, but when addressing the dreaded debate last year, Horizons produced a for-and-against dead heat and so the status quo prevailed.

That issue was dealt with on Tuesday, as was an arguably more important one - the revoking of the profitability test when granting consents for nitrogen leaching for
farmers.

That piece of legislation was described as "unlawful" by Environment Court judge Craig Thompson at the hearing this month to consider objections from environmental groups to the way Horizons granted consents under its One Plan scheme.

The Environment Court hearing saw plenty of flak flying in Horizons direction, mainly around the notion it was giving farmers too much slack when it came to polluting waterways.

The case could be a precursor to other challenges to local authorities on how they administer consents, and has the potential for a lot of costly litigation.

It also put a spotlight on the delicate - and difficult - balance the regional council has to strike between the necessity of food production and the protection of the environment.

So as it has soaked up its share of criticism, it should be pointed out that Horizons has had its successes in cleaning up waterways.

It reports nitrogen leaching down 11 per cent overall, with 58 per cent of tested sites showing a reduction, and 80 per cent of the 85 tested swim spots in the Manawatu catchment rated "swimmable" this summer.