Queenstown public meeting
Friday 3 November
Waste policy
Recycling, reuse and community
- The response to a lack of council recycling was a community driven approach. There is now some support from councils.
- The Alexandra branch has less funding. Recycling is valued by the community but not necessarily supported sufficiently by the council.
- Community groups are undervalued.
- The carbon costs of recycling versus producing new products should be calculated. This is an overarching climate change issue.
- Community groups want to be involved in bigger-picture discussions and be identified as a ‘stakeholder’.
- The community is not represented by the council viewpoint. There is a need for community groups to be involved in national level discussion.
- Community groups provide significant services on small financial support and are largely voluntary.
- Establish credibility for community groups.
- Ratepayers/producers should share the costs of recycling (i.e. plastics example in Waiheke).
Institutions and legislation
- CRN is tired of voluntary accords that are not in national legislation.
- Why advocate a voluntary approach? If you want market solutions then you have to put a price on it.
- The Packaging Accord is seen to be a failure. The Minister holds it up as a successful example but it is not. The statistics are incorrect.
- Waste is a nationally significant issue that should have across party consensus.
- The key principles of the Waste Minimisation Bill are important but the council response is unsupportive due to perceived costs.
- Voluntary stewardship schemes are not the best tool and are not supported. Voluntary accords are not seen to be successful.
- Legislation is needed to enforce behaviour changes.
Environmental Reporting
- Effective environmental monitoring is needed.
- Monitoring should include the development of an energy budget; monitoring of waste production and the use of raw materials; carbon counting (emissions); and a green purchasing indicator.
Education and information
- There need to be practical demonstrations and examples of smart decision-making on re-use, recycling, and how to deal with products.
- MfE could allocate more of the waste budget to the reduce/reuse message and top-down tools.
- Messages from central government need to reflect that the environment is a key asset.
National environmental standards
General comments
- No guidance is provided on ecological surveying and how to do an assessment (e.g. botanical, terrestrial ecological assessments, court land). Both consultants and local government need guidance to ensure consistency.
- More stringent building efficiency standards are wanted.
- How should variability in water quality issues be addressed in relation to alternative drinking water sources for domestic use (e.g. rainwater)?
- There is a big push to get minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) up and running. MEPS are wanted now. They should be mandatory for existing as well as new buildings. Why hasn’t EECA started training assessors like they were supposed to?
Water
Education and information
- Migrants need to be educated about flooding so that those moving into flood prone areas are aware of the risks.
- More public information is needed on ways to build good homes and the incentives that are out there for building homes that are more energy efficient. More incentives are needed.
Water allocation and usage
- We need to measure the cumulative effects of permitted and consented water extractions.
- Unsustainable use of water in dry zones should not happen. Why do we encourage dairy farms in Central Otago and the Mackenzie country? Tenure Review is acting as a driver for all sorts of developments.
- We need to look at what they are doing in Australia and learn from it. But we need transfer systems that are relevant to New Zealand.
- A transfer mechanism needs to be set up.
- All regional councils should bound by the same rules around transfer.
- There is support for consistent rules throughout different regions.
- Central government has a role in encouraging and raising awareness of issues.
Flood risk management and catchment management
- Better baseline information and guidance on hazards is required. Hazards mapping is required.
- Liability for hazard areas is a major issue. Much more certainty on the risks required.
- Hazards risk needs to be scientifically investigated, not looked at historically.
- Information needs to be included in LIMS and made publicly available in one place.
- Perhaps we should adapt to flooding rather than just build walls.
- We need to change how we talk about flooding. Do not talk about a 1 in 100 year flood event when in reality it is much more frequent. We need to articulate the level of risk, i.e. low, medium, high scale.
General comments
- Two billion dollars on the Waitaki dam is excessive. We need to look at better forms of energy rather than dams.
- The building code needs to be updated to cover insulation, double glazing etc.
Climate change
General comments
- We need to build resilience and prepare for a low carbon economy.
- There is a lack of information on solar panels and energy efficiency in homes. There is a shortage of skilled tradespeople.
- We need to prepare for microgeneration now.
- Different types of fuel are needed.
- Investment in eco-technologies is needed.
- How do you move people from land that is subject to catastrophic events?
- Planning needs to be long term e.g. 100 years.
- There should be indicators in the district plan that should drive behaviour change.
- The decisions are influenced by who is paying.
- Earlier mediation is needed.
- Do not get adversarial early.
- The RMA should have the ability to adjust to climate change.
- Individuals need to take action.
General interest
Transport
- There is an ethical choice between driving a car and catching a bus.
- Sustainability needs to be incorporated into planning on district wide issues e.g. transport.
- Transport infrastructure needs to be improved. The proceeds from the tax on fuel should be used to provide more public transport.
- Incentives and disincentives should be provided to encourage public transport. The Government should subsidise public transport. Public transport is being planned for in new developments in other areas. All public transport should be integrated. It should be easy to get around using a smart card.
- Public transport systems in Queenstown are privately operated and going well.
- Development results in more people living outside of Queenstown. There is only one eight seater bus from Cromwell to Queenstown every day but about 300 people drive. Public transport should be more convenient than driving a car. Bicycle lanes should be provided so that there are safe bicycle routes
- Building big subdivisions without nearby shops means people have to drive to get milk, bread etc.
- Sustainability should be incorporated through the planning process. Transport should be integrated and located in the appropriate places such as in areas of major density in Queenstown. Local urban areas are getting pushed out due to tourist developments.
- Public transport is a key area for sustainability. Public transport at a regional level can have an effect at a national level.
General comments
- The expectation from government is that things need to be profitable. However, New Zealand has a widely dispersed population so some things need to be subsidised. There should be a rates allocation for environmental structures in the community.
- Why can’t we have a tourist tax? Tourists should be charged a tariff of $1 per person to fund conservation projects. If people are asked to pay for good things; they will pay.
- Parks and services should operate on a ‘pay as you go’ basis. Be cautious of overcharging tourists.
- Tourism in Queenstown is too expensive for New Zealanders.
- A population cap should be introduced regionally as in areas in Australia. More innovative planning for property development is needed. Developers will put in transport, parks etc. if there are incentives.
- Solar panels, effluent fields and other sustainable practices should be encouraged in new developments.
- Incentives such as rate rebates should be provided to encourage more eco-friendly behaviour.
- Implement higher standards from the top down with incentives. Education is fundamental.
- The level needs to be raised through education in schools, incentives, standards for building, and the Building Code.
- More government accountability is needed in relation to sewerage disposal in Wanaka. Someone needs to take the initiative for sustainable sewerage disposal.
- Councils should be doing what they are supposed to. Government should produce a standard for sewerage disposal and enforce it.
- In the short term people are arguing about what needs to be done. In the long term it is not happening.
- Cost needs to be balanced against necessity i.e. solar panels should be subsidised.
- Compulsory versus voluntary is a numbers issue. If it is not feasible to introduce a voluntary measure, make it compulsory. The key problem is that New Zealanders live in one house for an average of 2 to 7 years and do not want to spend money on something they are not going to use for its full life capacity.
- Environmental issues should be part of the school curriculum. In addition to the Talk Environment Roadshow public meetings, there should be a Saturday morning session that school children are invited to.
- A Youth Forum should be held for all children who are interested as well as for educating those that are not.
- Regulation prevents sustainable building.
- The Government assumes we all want growth and growth is good. However, growth has repercussions for climate change. We should improve things without growing.
- The production of sustainable energy should be encouraged. All energy should be renewable.
- We could make New Zealand GE free.
- MFE could educate people on climate change including why it is happening and what can we do about it. The New Zealand Government climate change website needs to be publicised.
- People need to be told why they have a responsibility about water. Those for whom English is a second language would not understand the subtleties of the water campaign message.
- Industry needs to be monitored and held accountable.
- Manufacturers should be responsible for reducing construction waste.
- Sustainability needs to be incorporated into planning.
- National standards are needed, including building standards incorporating energy efficient design.
- Local level infrastructure, including energy generation and sewerage treatment, should be allowed for.
- Incentives should be provided for eco-building and development.
- There should be an increased focus on renewable energy.
Last updated: 27 February 2008
