Waimakariri to seek 3 Waters funding, despite opposition
From local democracy reporter David Hill:
The Waimakariri council will seek Three Waters funding, while maintaining its opposition to the proposed reform.
Councillors voted unanimously at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to authorise a funding application to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for $5.54 million of ‘‘Better Off’’ funding.
The application was approved with the insertion of clauses into the draft funding agreement designed to protect the council’s opposition to the government’s proposed reform programme.
The clauses were prepared by law firm Anderson and Lloyd and protect the council’s membership of lobby group Communities 4 Local Democracy.
Mayor Dan Gordon said the funding was a good opportunity for the council to complete some projects which it would otherwise not be able to do in the short term.
The original draft agreement from DIA contained clauses which appeared to prevent councils from opposing the reform agenda.
‘‘They are apparently standard wording in DIA agreements, so perhaps they haven’t been read closely enough in the past,’’ Gordon said.
‘‘But the clauses from Anderson and Lloyd have preserved our principles around Three Waters.’’
Waimakariri District Council strategy, engagement and economic development general manager Simon Hart said initial indications from DIA staff suggested the new clauses may not be acceptable to DIA.
‘‘We sought some advice and we were given several options, we could proceed as planned with the new clauses, or we could delete the offending DIA clauses, we could just go with the standard agreement or not proceed at all.’’
Hart said the recommendation was to proceed with the new clauses ‘‘and we can always revisit it, if it is rejected’’.
Should the application be successful, the council will place a focus on climate change projects.
Elderly persons’ housing, the Kaiapoi to Woodend cycle way, the Rangiora civic precinct project and a Kāinga Nohoanga Strategy project in Māori Reserve 873 were also included.
Councillor Philip Redmond said he was initially going to oppose the funding application, but changed his mind on the basis of the new clauses being inserted.
An assurance from opposition Three Waters spokesperson Simon Watts that National would not require the money to be repaid, should it win next year’s election, had also helped to sway his vote.
‘‘We are effectively receiving a deposit towards our assets and even if we were to turn this payment down we won’t necessarily lose it if there is no change of government.
‘‘But if we don’t accept it now and there is a change of government, the money probably wouldn’t be offered again.’’
The Waimakariri District Council is eligible for up to $22.18m of ‘‘Better Off’’ funding, including up to $5.54m in the first tranche.
The ‘‘Better Off’’ funding is for a five-year programme and projects would be subject to final approval from the council’s utilities and roading committee and will likely be considered as part of the council’s annual plan process.
Waimakariri district plan faces more delays amid changing rules
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Changing Government legislation is causing headaches for council staff, as Waimakariri’s new District Plan is set to be delayed again.
Waimakariri District Council development planning manager Matt Bacon said he was relieved when the last of the public hearings ended last week.
But with final council reports due on December 13, staff will have just two working days to present the final District Plan on December 17. A district plan helps to control and manage the development of the district or city.
‘‘We are working through what it looks like and we will update the council at its meeting on December 3,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘But we will likely seek another extension from the environment minister and the Resource Management Act (RMA) minister.’’
The council first notified its draft District Plan in September 2021, but within months legislation was introduced with new medium density residential housing standards (MDRS).
‘‘We needed to call for further submissions and we had to create a separate hearing panel to consider the plan variations to allow for the MDRS,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘We have tried to merge the process as much as possible, as well as looking at re-zoning and incorporating other new legislation.’’
When the draft plan was first notified there was no National Policy Statement (NPS) for Indigenous Biodiversity, but an NPS was introduced - and then replaced.
The Natural and Built Environment Act came into being last year and then repealed, and then there is the NPS on Urban Development and the Greater Christchurch Spatial Plan.
The Government is now working on more RMA reforms and Environment Canterbury is working on the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement.
And then there is the Fast-Track Approvals Bill, which includes three proposed housing developments in Waimakariri - two of them outside of the future urban development areas identified in the Greater Christchurch Spatial Plan.
All three housing developments in the Bill have been included in submissions to the District Plan, including a proposed 850-home development at Ohoka, near Rangiora, which is also subject to an Environment Court appeal.
‘‘We haven’t seen the detail, so whether it is the same proposals, we don’t know, but they are different processes so we have to just keep doing what we are doing, until we are told otherwise,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘It might just be a timing thing, but we just don’t know.’’
Bacon said delaying the District Plan until new legislation is in place is not an option.
‘‘We are looking at what we can control and having a watching brief, and we will look at transitional timings because we don’t always have to immediately change planning documents when new legislation comes in.’’
Planning manager Wendy Harris said navigating changing Government legislation is a normal part of council planning work.
‘‘If we waited we wouldn’t do anything and we would go nowhere.’’
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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