Items of interest from today's meeting of the Taranaki Regional Council Policy and Planning Committee:
Iwi testing the waters
Council officers are providing a number of iwi and hapū in the region with training and advice to allow them to monitor the health of waterways using a ‘Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kit’ (SHMAK) developed by NIWA, the Committee was told. An initial approach for assistance came from the region’s southernmost iwi, Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi, and others have since expressed interest. The iwi-based freshwater monitoring initiative is funded by the Ministry for the Environment.
Waingongoro’s beard to be pulled next
A trial programme to control old man’s beard along the Kaupokonui Stream has proved successful and it will be extended to the Waingongoro River, the Committee was told. Under the programme, the Council carries an initial intensive knock-down operation, then land-owners assume responsibility for continued control, supported by the Council. Old man’s beard is one of the most damaging and invasive climbing plants in New Zealand. These two catchments have been among Taranaki’s worst areas for it, with infestations so heavy downstream of Opunake Road that occupiers of land within 50m of either waterway have previously been exempt from a regional strategy rule requiring old man’s beard to be destroyed whenever it is found.
Coastal report’s value questioned
A new national report on the marine environment reads more like an issues paper than a comprehensive and well-informed presentation of the state of New Zealand’s coastal and marine environs and does not appear to serve its intended purposes well, the Committee was told. The report is part of a series published by the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics NZ. Meanwhile, the Committee was also told that the Council’s review of its own Coastal Plan was progressing, with informal feedback closing last week on draft changes published earlier this year. Most of the feedback related to one suggested provision relating to surfing competitions and similar coastal events. The feedback will be collated and reported to the Committee early next year, along with recommended changes.
Helpful information for Authority
The Council has lodged a submission to the Environmental Protection Authority on the application by Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd for marine consents to extract ironsand offshore from Patea, the Committee was told. As with the Council’s submission on TTR’s first application in 2013, it offers information that may be helpful to the EPA’s Decision Making Committee, based on the Council’s own experience as a regulator and environmental monitor in the region, but does not support or oppose the application.