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2. Statement of Service Performance for the Year Ended 30 June 2008

Vote Environment
Output Class: Resource Management Act Call-ins

Through this output class, the Minister purchased the public notification process for considering nationally significant applications under the Resource Management Act (RMA), where the Minister for the Environment exercises the call-in powers under the legislation, and where necessary, providing support to Boards of Inquiry.

This Output Class was initially established for the Transpower Call-in. Cabinet has since agreed to rename the appropriation and increase it to cover all RMA call-ins, including the Te Mihi geothermal call-in and the Te Waka wind farm call-in.

Resources employed

Actual
30/06/2007
$000		   Actual
30/06/2008
$000 		Main estimates
30/06/2008
$000 		Supplementary estimates
30/06/2008
$000
  Revenue:      
0 Other 1,502 0 2,343
0 Total revenue 1,502 0 2,343
0 Total expenses 1,502 0 2,343
0 Net surplus 0 0 0

Output: Assist Ministers with their statutory functions under environmental laws and Ministerial responsibilities.

Performance Measure 2007/08 Performance

Advise the Minister for the Environment of statutory functions under the RMA within statutory timeframes that are set under the RMA, or where no timeframes exist, as promptly as is reasonable in the circumstances. This includes:

  • requests that are made for Ministerial intervention including call-in.

Achieved – The Ministry advised the Minister for the Environment in relation to statutory functions under the RMA as follows:

A briefing note was sent to the Minister for the Environment on 31 March on the proposed Mokihinui hydro scheme. Ministerial intervention was declined.

The Ministry prepared initial advice on the Rodney District Council request for call-in of the Genesis-proposed Rodney thermal power station. The call-in request was withdrawn in December 2007.

The Minister referred Unison’s Te Waka wind farm proposal to the Environment Court in March 2008. The proposal was called-in in February 2008. The Minister’s direction was publicly notified and submissions received. All relevant matters were referred to the Environment Court.

The Ministry provided a briefing on options for government submissions (ie, departmental or Crown submission) on Transpower’s North Island Grid Upgrade proposal. The decision to call-in the proposal was made in August 2007.

The Ministry continued the call-in process undertaken for Transpower’s North Island Grid Upgrade proposal. The proposal has been publicly notified and submissions received. The Board of Inquiry has been established and the hearing of the proposal and submissions began on 25 March 2008. Hearings are scheduled until October 2008. The timing of the decision will depend on the duration of the hearing process.

The Ministry continued work on Contact Energy’s Te Mihi geothermal proposal. Called-in in February 2008, the proposal has been publicly notified and submissions received. The Board of Inquiry has been established. The hearing will begin on 21 July 2008.

 

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