Queenstown local government meeting
Thursday 2 November
Waste policy (includes NES issues)
Biosolids
- Camper van waste/effluent is a hazardous waste.
- Camper van waste/tourism sanitary waste is a real problem not just here but also in other regions in New Zealand (e.g. Rotorua lakes). Help is needed from Central government, particularly education. The Motor Home Association has been very responsible and helpful to date.
Recycling, reuse and community
- Transport costs are very real because cities/towns are so far away. Metros start recycling and smaller areas lose the market. Costs have to be passed on to the ratepayer which puts them at significant disadvantage.
- Vineyards could take back bottles, though they claim this would be too expensive, or a levy could be used.
- Providing a refund for returned bottles used to work in Queenstown
- Central Otago District Council (CODC) is collecting everything and stockpiling it but is heavily subsidised to do so.
- The economics of composting green waste do not support it. It is cheaper for CODC to send it to landfill where it is crushed and buried.
General comments
- The Waste Minimisation Bill raises concerns for the Council who is implementing/reviewing waste contracts/strategies etc.
- The landfill opened in 1999 with an expected life of 75 years. This has possibly halved to 30 years due to growth.
- Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) is proposing a levy directly at landfill (in conjunction with CODC). If half the proceeds went back to central government, the burden for the remainder would fall on ratepayers. Money generated in Queenstown should stay here because the town is struggling to provide infrastructure. Queenstown has a very aggressive waste strategy that hinges entirely on this funding structure. Queenstown is the second most expensive area in NZ for recycling (comparable with Waiheke) with a very small rate payer base.
- Cars can be problem because people buy cheap cars in Auckland, drive to Queenstown, stay for a ski season and then fly out, resulting in one car being dumped a day.
- The Camphill Road sawmill site in Wanaka and another one at Hawea are both contaminated. Several locals have homes close by.
- Queenstown has come a long way in the last five years but still has a long way to go. Councils are unsure of their responsibility around hazardous wastes and are not doing anything at the moment.
- There was a call for better co-ordination between local councils and direction from the regional council. Each TLA has to work in isolation (e.g. future landfills, hazardous waste).
National environmental standards (see Waste for Standards issues)
Water
General comments
- The lakes area has an opportunity to the lead on sustainability, particularly transport and energy sustainability. Government should take a role in this by providing incentives, supporting initiatives and removing barriers e.g. the Building Code can set better and more sustainable bottom lines.
- There is lots of water in some areas, but not in others. Environmental flows should be set based on environmental science.
- Flexibility needs to be maintained in environmental standards. Plans to address water over-allocation in Otago can damage economic stability in dry regions.
- Tools to initiate change are often cumbersome. The barriers need to be removed and simpler, more streamlined tools should be provided.
- Concentrate on the maintenance of on-site treatment systems. Consider the technology used at Jack’s Point where there is an alarm that warns when maintenance is required.
- Plan change is needed to reduce development intensity because of flood risks. It is very costly to go through the plan change process, especially when it is challenged at the Environment Court. The perception of property rights needs to be challenged.
- There is a need for a National Energy Strategy that identifies regional needs and the best locations that have minimal effects. The District Plan can then take this in to account.
Climate change
General comments
- Better climate change forecasting is needed, looking the mid-term (15 years ahead).
- Flooding caused by sequences of North Westerly flows. NIWA has tools but they are costly for councils. Tools should be free to citizens. Government should focus research on prediction at the extreme ends – dry or wet averages are not helpful.
- Climate change information needs to be personalised to get the whole community to understand and enable people to act.
Environmental reporting
General comments
- Frameworks for reporting structures would be very useful.
- Who is using certain methodologies/indicators?
- Monitoring should lead to a response – it should not be done for the sake of it. Central government has a role to provide guidance.
- Technical support would be very useful to address data management issues.
- Landscapes are a particular issue in QLDC/CODC. Guidance on standards is needed. The focus should be at a regional level. Web-based information would be most useful.
- There is concern that Council has to buy data that is produced nationally (LENZ, LCDB).
- MfE could provide national databases to councils to ensure data is gathered consistently.
- There should be a web portal for environmental monitoring and reporting.
- Monitoring is difficult to get council funding for. Resourcing is difficult.
- Frameworks for reporting would be useful.
- Reporting on district plan effectiveness and efficiency is difficult. Standard guidance is needed.
- A central website for storing information and linking to other information sources on-line would be useful.
- A national database of indicators (raw data as well as final reports) should be made available for councils.
- State of the environment reporting should be linked to community wellbeing reporting.
- Guidance is needed on how certain indicators should be interpreted, likely trends etc. to enable more junior staff to be able to carry out monitoring and reporting.
- Making data more accessible is the key. Web-based information is most accessible. Raw data should also be available.
- Standard national indicators will enable comparison between districts/regions.
- There should be one portal providing access to all information/data that councils are required to report on.
- Indicators for urban quality would be helpful, e.g. urban design and reporting on the urban design protocol.
- A template should be provided to councils to use for reporting. Key indicators should be suggested.
- Councils want information at the local level.
- Provide guidance on what is good and bad in terms of results and set up networks where councils can discuss outcomes and trends.
- Continue training from RMA monitoring workshops to expand on SOE indicators.
- Data management guidance would be good, e.g. one database that can be shared and populated nationally.
- National level guidance and assistance is needed in relation to database management and indicators.
- Consider developing indicators for urban design along the lines of the urban design protocol.
- Develop indicators for preservation of landscape, e.g. the development of significant landscapes.
- Integration is needed between community outcome monitoring, state of the environment reporting and plans.
ENZ07
- The national SOE report should be aligned with council reporting timeframes.
- A national report could help councils compare their performance with other areas and regions performance.
Last updated: 27 February 2008
