In The Press, Christchurch 27 June, Dr Greg Severinsen, the Environmental Defence Society’s RMA Reform Director, acknowledges the need for reform, but to paraphrase him, warns of the proverbial throwing the baby out with the bath water. It highlights too, for me, the importance of voting.
These two following paragraphs from the article, reinforce that message.
“Regional councils have value. They are where technical environmental expertise resides, including science, planning, consenting and compliance. They are where relationships have been built with tangata whenua and communities and where functions needing a regional scope are performed – including catchment management”. We cannot simply “scrap” regional councils. What would replace them?
“There has been politicisation and industry capture, even in the face of strong legal directions to pursue environmental protections. Regional councils also have economic development mandates that can cause tensions with environmental functions”.
Greg Byrnes 