Good work on the ground - but a tiring year for Horizons councillors

Whanganui's Horizons councillors, Nicola Patrick and David Cotton, agree that the council has achieved a lot on the ground this year. Photo / Bevan Conley

This year Horizons Regional Council has made a shift in thinking that sets a good framework for the future, its chief executive Michael McCartney says.

The shift is embodied in its Long Term Plan. It was adopted in June, and it expanded the council's business and increased regional rates eight per cent. The main areas of change were in climate change as a separate activity, in working with iwi and in improving biodiversity.

"It's tiring but we've had a lot of successes in the last 12 to 24 months," McCartney said.

Since the pandemic began the council has had an extra $50 million from Government, to improve water quality and protect people from flooding.

There were six new councillors and a new chairwoman after the 2019 election, and McCartney praised the councillors for their "creative and diverse" thinking.

David Cotton is not sure whether he will stand for the next election in late 2022, but said if he does it will be the last time.

Nicola Patrick is sure that she will stand. She said the team around the table this year has been highly functional and well balanced, and she has enjoyed it.

The next Horizons council will have 14 councillors, with the extra two from northern and southern Maōri wards.

Work on the ground this year includes awarding a tender for the repair of North Mole.
Cotton lost his bet that a weed harvesting trial on Lake Horowhenua would not take place before December 31. He'll hand over a $5,000 cheque for the lake in February.

Work to improve it is the right thing to do, he said, but he wants people to know how much it's costing. That's nearly $3 million so far, including $600,000 in legal costs - and it has only had one trial.

Both councillors are impressed by the information Massey University contractors have collected on Anzac Pde flood resilience.

Cotton is leaving work on coastal streams in his Kai Iwi area to the Whanganui West Catchment Group, but he is pleased to hear a farmer there is testing water at his own cost.

There are longer-term strategic questions he'd like to tackle. One is whether the 80:20 funding split for regional projects is fair for small councils like Whanganui and Ruapehu. Another is how Horizons fits into the Te Awa Tupua model of the Whanganui River as a legal person.

"Should we be handing the management of the Whanganui River back to iwi? I think we should consider it," he said.

Patrick chairs the council's environment committee and said funding for freshwater improvement has doubled this year - but still doesn't meet demand. At the same time, water quality in Whanganui's western streams is "atrocious".

"We made a massive step up but we are still looking at a long road ahead."

Funding for the fencing and planting of streams was increased this year through Jobs for Nature. Photo / supplied

She likes the framework council has set to ensure its spending gets the best possible result, and she said consulting communities and tāngata whenua about their water is the right thing to do.

The "warm-up" to that is finished and she's confident the council will achieve the Government's goal of catchment-by-catchment water consultation and a plan change by December 31, 2024.

She also likes the council's increased effort to include Māori views. It was intended by the 1991 Resource Management Act (RMA), she said, but the freshwater reforms have given it more traction.

The council gets 350 to 400 resource consent applications a year, and one of the requirements people have found most challenging is consulting with iwi.

The iwi can charge for their time, but the report recommends that council helps with administration costs as well as employing an advisor and navigators to guide applicants through the process.

Ongoing and deeper involvement with iwi is a given, Patrick said.

"The direction is really clear. We have to lift our game."