Napier local government meeting
Tuesday 7 November
Waste policy
Waste levy
- There is some uncertainty about what local government can and cannot do in terms of a landfill levy.
- Local government wants to be able to use landfill funds to support waste minimisation initiatives.
- Risks of landfills being a profit stream for councils (lack of incentives).
- Are dedicated waste authorities an option?
Hazardous waste management
- There is a lot of interest in Waste Track. Waste Track has been encouraged and supported by Napier City Council and Hastings District Council.
- There is concern about the lack of options for industrial waste (many presently burn their waste).
Recycling, reuse and communities
- There is concern that recycling is at the ratepayers cost. This is a bitter pill to swallow. Producers should financially support recycling.
- Waste to energy is a good option locally.
Education and information
- Education is crucial in a number of areas to change attitudes, e.g. waste to energy, biosolids use.
General comments
- There are issues with fly-tipping, open burning of waste and enforcement. These issues are a problem in rural communities.
- Disposal constraints need to be balanced with incentives (burning, fly-tipping, etc).
- There is interest in agrecovery – who is actually going to sign up and pay? There is concern about free-riders.
- Glass is an issue.
National environmental standards
Septic tanks
- There is support for a National Environmental Standard on septic tanks but targeted to (i) maintenance and (ii) certification requirements as this is where the current system is failing.
- How would a National Environmental Standard on septic tanks interface with the Building Act?
- What level of risk assessment is appropriate to take account of cumulative effects?
- Tank effluent receiving environment acceptance criteria should be science-based. Appropriate thresholds should be set to take account of the receiving environment’s capacity to adsorb effluent.
Air quality
- The big issue with air quality are the difficulties associated with implementing the NES, including administration and compliance. Changing Council plans is a very slow and cumbersome way of reacting to NES requirements.
- Getting consumers to operate new wood burners correctly is a challenge. Many people engage in subversive behaviour unless they are personally committed to improving air quality.
- Smart, accessible and user friendly promotional information is needed.
- 87% of PM10 emissions are from existing wood burners in this region. Wood burners are a big problem in the Hawkes Bay, particularly for those who can least afford to switch to alternative means of home heating. Linkages need to be made with the Warm Homes project. Subsidies are needed for solar water heating, insulation, and passive solar house design.
- The Hawkes Bay wants funding to implement the air quality National Environmental Standards.
- The process to develop the air quality National Environmental Standard was fraught. The standard was bulldozed through by the MfE. Councils want a better process for NES development.
General comments
- The cost of implementing National Environmental Standards can be very significant for councils. This needs to be better taken into account in decision-making on standards.
- A National Environmental Standard on hazard management would be good. This could set a standardised methodology for assessing risk in managing coastal erosion and flood risk management, as well as standardised methods for regulating hazards.
- Water meter design specifications are needed for accuracy and performance. The specifications should cover reliability, variance, telemetry, compliance, tamper-proofing, and reporting frequency. This issue is particularly relevant to the MfE’s Sustainable Water Programme of Action.
Water
Stormwater management
- What guidelines are available on stormwater management?
- Is there a need for more guidelines, including non statutory guidance and potential case studies?
- Is there potential to look at overseas models? (perhaps Sydney?)
- Hawkes Bay Regional Council is reviewing stormwater policy.
- It is difficult to making decisions about recycling of water.
Flood risk management and catchment management
- There is a problem with consent applications in areas where there is little information or justification for not building there.
- A Government guarantee on council decisions is needed.
- There is a lack of documentation and recording of information on flood prone areas.
- The cost of undertaking studies/research is expensive.
- There is a tension between wanting to attract people to live in districts and wanting effective policies and plans.
- When should government intervene?
- TLAs, regions and central government need to undertake strategic planning on water.
- The perception is that government funding is only going to Auckland and Christchurch.
- Non-statutory guidance for catchment management is important. We need access to information. How could catchment management be tied into a body corporate?
Water allocation and usage
- There is potential for national policy on water allocation and supply and discharges to water.
Climate change
Education and information
- It is important to have clear information to take to public
- The public still need to be convinced about science.
- It is important to get relevant accurate projections of future scenarios.
- Research and development is an important element.
- Government needs to place significant importance in raising public awareness.
- There is a need for research on new plants that will be resilient to weather extremes that come as a result of climate change.
- There has been an increase in the awareness of the general public. It is important to provide regional context so that information on climate change is relevant.
General comments
- There needs to be a consequence for inaction to change behaviour.
- Government’s recent discussion documents were helpful.
- National baselines are needed to provide a starting point for councils, for example on the management of coasts.
- Local and central government need to work together in partnership.
- New Zealand should lead the world in relation to adaptation.
- How will New Zealand address future energy concerns?
- Incentives can play an important part in encouraging behavioural change
Environmental reporting
General comments
- MfE needs to be clear about target audiences (and the purpose) for specific reports.
- MfE needs to work on environmental education and link documents to the school curriculum. Environmental games could be developed.
- It is important to show people what information is available, e.g. you could put further information lists at the back of publications such as Boots ‘n’ All.
- Upcoming technology should be used, e.g. smartboards (interactive whiteboards).
- Boots ‘n’ All has no land section and only a short section on urban. More focus is needed on urban sustainability.
- Who will interpret trends in core indicators? The land use indicators do not show if it is getting better or worse. Soil health would be a better indicator.
- LENZ, REC and MEC are not compatible with the latest GIS system. They are only used by the council to identify monitoring sites. It is typical of MfE to develop such systems and then not follow through with regular updates.
- Most regional councils base their monitoring on the national ground water programme and the rivers water quality network. Presumably MfE’s water indicators will take this in to account?
- Urban indicators provide good coverage.
- Biodiversity indicators do not tell us about the quality, only quantity. No introduced species should be included in indicators - trout is suggested as an indicator!
ENZ07
- Where do coastal indicators fit? Where does the coast fit in ENZ07?
- It is important that there is consistency amongst chapters. If we are talking about quality of water we should also look at quality of land.
- It is important that ENZ07 is distributed to those who it is intended for.
Last updated: 11 May 2007
