Open Minutes
Commencing: Tuesday 10 December 2024, 9.30 am
Venue: Council Chambers, Regional House, 1 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga, and via Zoom (Audio Visual Meeting)
Chairperson: Cr Paula Thompson
Deputy Chairperson: Cr Kat Macmillan
Members: Cr Malcolm Campbell
Cr Stuart Crosby
Cr Toi Kai Rākau Iti
Chairman Doug Leeder
Cr Matemoana McDonald
Cr Jane Nees
Cr Ron Scott
Cr Ken Shirley
Cr Lyall Thurston (via Zoom)
Cr Andrew von Dadelszen (via Zoom)
Cr Te Taru White
Cr Kevin Winters (via Zoom)
In Attendance: Staff: Fiona McTavish – Chief Executive; Namouta Poutasi – General Manager, Strategy and Science; Chris Ingle – General Manager, Integrated Catchments; Reuben Fraser – General Manager, Regulatory Services; Stephen Lamb – Natural Resources Policy Manager; Nicki Green – Principal Advisor, Policy and Planning; James Low – Team Leader Policy (Freshwater); Steve Groom – Governance Manager; Chris Brewer – Manager Planning; Mark Hamilton – Senior Policy Analyst; Karen Parcell – Team Leader, Kaiwhakatinana; Lisa Power – Senior Planner; Hamish Lass - Biosecurity Team Leader; Mark Townsend – Engineering Manager; Jenny Teeuwen – Committee Advisor
External: Vicktoria Blake - Principal Advisor Climate Risk & Resilience, Te Whatu Ora; Brent Mountfort – President, and Jessie Brennan – Senior Policy Analyst, Bay of Penty Federated Farmers
Apologies: There were none.
1. Chairperson’s Opening Statement
Chairperson Cr Paula Thompson opened the meeting and reminded those present that the meeting was being livestreamed and recorded and that the recording would be available on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana (BOPRC) YouTube channel following the meeting; link: Strategy and Policy Committee - 10 December 2024.
2. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest
None declared.
Minutes to be Confirmed
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Strategy and Policy Committee Minutes - 17 September 2024 |
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That the Strategy and Policy Committee: 1 Confirms the Strategy and Policy Committee Minutes - 17 September 2024 as a true and correct record. CARRIED |
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Climate Risk and Resilience – impacts on human health and wellbeing Presentation: Climate Change and Health: Objective ID A4839979 ⇨ Presented by: Vicktoria Blake - Principal Advisor, Climate Risk & Resilience - Te Whatu Ora |
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· Climate change and environmental degradation impacted quality of life; temperatures were going to increase before they decreased. · Outlined the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways – Climate Projections (SSPs) taken from the Intercontinental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sixth assessment. SSP1 (1.5°C increase in temperature) was aligned with the Paris Agreement; current trajectory was SSP3 (7°C). · All climate hazards – flooding, storms and extreme weather, sea level rise, temperature rise, heatwaves, drought, and fires - impacted on health and wellbeing. · Outlined the health sector’s three climate scenarios (short-term – 2023 (present day) to 2030, medium-term 2030 to 2050, and long-term 2050-2100). · Outlined Te Whatu Ora’s four priority climate change workstreams – strategic integration of sustainability, health system decarbonisation, environment in all practices, and health system resilience and adaptation, and what Te Whatu Ora was currently doing practically. · Touched on the ongoing health and wellbeing impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.
· Moving forward, needed to develop a deeper understanding of the impacts of climate change on human health and wellbeing, and better understand the financial and health cost implications stemming from the impacts of climate change and the benefits that climate change mitigation could bring. In Response to Questions · Needed to understand the problem and where the risks areas were to come up with solutions and put those solutions into practice. Encouraged Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC) to continue the work that was already being done in the environment space. · Acknowledged that more collaboration was needed. This was still a work in progress; however, there were some areas where this was already working well. · New Zealand was not too far away from Paris agreement obligations but could be doing more work, while there was a much more significant gap globally. · Because it did not seem immediate, it was hard for people to prioritise climate change. It was about education; people wanted to know more about what was happening and what they could do for themselves. · Hoped that by sharing this information, people understood that rapid action on climate was not just about reducing emissions, it was also about protecting people’s health and wellness.
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Freshwater Policy Programme: Next steps for draft freshwater changes to the Regional Policy Statement and Regional Natural Resources Plan Presentation: Freshwater Programme - Next Steps: Objective ID A4841100 ⇨ Presented by: Stephen Lamb – Natural Resources Policy Manager Nicki Green – Principal Advisor Policy and Planning Brent Montfort – President, Bay of Penty Federated Farmers Jessie Brennan - Senior Policy Analyst, Bay of Penty Federated Farmers Key Points · Council and staff were caught in a difficult position with regard to the freshwater programme. · The presentation outlined options for a decision on a way forward, implementation and budget, and risk overview. · Decision on a way forward: - Provided context - Outlined the four options being presented: 1. Release draft prior to National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM) 2025 and pivot 2. Release after NPSFM 2025 3. Post 2026 – next triennium 4. Module approach
- Staff recommended Option 2; provided reasoning (refer options assessment table, and options summary and preference on Page 28 of the agenda). - Topic testing – staff were seeking the ability to hold conversations with stakeholders on key topics. Main topics included on-site effluent treatment (OSET) provisions, particularly in certain localities; provisions around enabling environmental enhancement e.g. rules for sediment detention devices and constructed treatment wetlands; farming land use options to reduce contaminant losses; and water quantity limits. The topics were not new; would be continuing discussions that began in 2023. · Implementation and budget: - Savings from the Freshwater programme had already been provided in the Draft Annual Plan and further reductions were being proposed – budget now halved (refer table on page 31 of the agenda). - In the absence of more robust policy, some projects would become more important e.g. water accounting system. - Outlined the priority projects to be retained in the implementation budget - accounting systems, existing tangata whenua projects, land use monitoring, catchment group support, and streamlining working with iwi/hapū consents process. · Risk Overview - Overview of the Risk Table (Attachment 3, page 40 of the agenda). - The impact of legislative change was identified in BOPRC’s Key Risk Register. - Freshwater programme key risks were dependent on “where to from here” and associated with extended timelines. Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers Presentation · At a high level, supported Option 2; were encouraging councils to wait for more certainty from central government. · Also saw some potential merit with the Option 4 modules approach. Whilst it was not entirely clear what the modules might include, considered this approach might allow farmers to get on with things they wanted to do to enhance freshwater e.g. small retention/detention dams that slowed water up and caught sediment. · Had already had good dialogue and worked well with BOPRC staff; who were professional and “got it”. · Requested that Councillors consider visiting some farms to see what farmers were already doing to enable councillors to visualise what was actually going on while decision-making around the table. Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers would be happy to assist with facilitating these visits. In Response to Questions · Option 4: Module approach - was about releasing modules of the draft Regional Policy Statement (RPS) and Regional Natural Resource Plan (RNRP) material that was more enabling, streamlined, improved and simplified the plan, and might be less contentious, or could otherwise be released for more broad feedback. The benefits of releasing whole parts of the draft plan provisions on topics such as detention bunds, OSET etc enabled people to look at the detail and provide more detailed feedback than they could when just talking concepts, but the risk was that this could result in more confusion. Staff considered that there would be issues/risks associated with taking modules right through to notification.
· Elements of Option 4 were actually included in the topic testing element of Option 2. · There was the risk of consultation fatigue with farmers; however, there could be a lot of value in the deeper dive approach. Farmers were ultimately looking for certainty, not a constant change in direction. · Regardless of what happened there would be a set of property rights and a regulatory framework. The same fundamental basis for planning would still be there but the levers or settings were likely to be different. · People within sensitive area/catchments that may be faced with major change would be included in the topic testing discussions. · Regarding Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) reform, what was being discussed today was working towards a draft and notification of a plan that would be in place until such time that a regional plan (or a combined new plan) needed to be replaced; when that would be was still not known but it could be several years away. · Indications were that there would be a national solution for water accounting. What BOPRC was currently working on would be an interim fix. · The option of seeking legislative change to pause/extend resource consent timeframes had not been pursued nationally to date. · BOPRC could acknowledge publicly what central government had released in terms of where they might be heading with reforms, but BOPRC did not implement until legislation and policy were actually formed and had been through due process. · BOPRC was aware that some iwi and other groups may look to regional councils for their position on the removal of Treaty Principles from the RMA as part of the reform and whether councils would be submitting on that. · In Federated Farmers experience, the thinking of Māori farmers was just as diverse as with any other stakeholder group.
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That the Strategy and Policy Committee: 1 Receives the report, Freshwater Policy Programme: Next steps for draft freshwater changes to the Regional Policy Statement and Regional Natural Resources Plan. 2 Adopts Option 2: Release draft Freshwater policy and plan following gazettal of the new NPSFM (indicatively August/September 2025) for progressing the draft freshwater changes to the Regional Policy Statement and Regional Natural Resources Plan. 3 Agrees with the “Topic Testing” approach to supporting policy and plan drafting process. 4 Notes decisions on when to notify proposed RPS change and RNRP changes need to be deferred until Central Government direction is more certain and specifically after the Government has gazetted changes to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management in mid-2025. CARRIED |
11.05am – the meeting adjourned.
11.23am – the meeting reconvened.
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Bay of Plenty Regional Council Prioritisation and Decision-making Framework Presented by: Steve Groom – Governance Manager Chris Brewer – Manager, Planning · The report was in response to Council’s request that the Chief Executive (CE) develop a decision-making and prioritisation framework to strategically execute the 2024 – 2034 Long Term Plan (LTP). · Informed by previous feedback from Councillors; in particular, around the need for a greater focus on cost and efficiency. · Intended as a conversation starter. · Proposed two parts - prioritisation and work phasing. · Prioritisation key themes included impact, efficiency and certainty. These themes were visually represented in the cube graphic; provided explanation of how it worked. · The phasing model assisted the prioritisation model by sorting work into three horizons. · Proposed next steps – refine based on feedback received, and review the agreed prioritisation framework and high-level work plan every six months. In Response to Questions · Having a consistent framework applied to the decisions that councillors made may help to manage some of the current uncertainty. · If designed well, the framework could bring some rigour and discipline to how priority assessments were made. · The three horizons model should cancel out the risk of focussing too much on easy (short term) wins. · The five LTP strategic framework outcomes were overarching. · Work with certainty could be phased now and work with uncertainty phased later. Dependencies and available resource also needed to be taken into consideration. · Weightings for the prioritisation themes were currently nominal (at 33% each) and could be reviewed. Key Points/Feedback - Members · Support expressed for the framework. · Needed to guarantee some provision for flexibility. · Prioritisation model themes - “Certainty” should be at the top and more focussed on what was legislatively required. · Fiscal management – “prudent” meant different things to different people; change wording to add more weight, and how this aligned with BOPRC’s funding and financing policy needed to be better explained.
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That the Strategy and Policy Committee: 1 Receives the report, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Prioritisation and Decision-making Framework. 2 Endorses the model prioritisation and decision-making model, taking into consideration the feedback received from Councillors at this meeting. 3 Endorses the Phasing model, taking into consideration the feedback received from Councillors at this meeting. 4 Directs staff to integrate the prioritisation and decision-making model to support effective decision-making on items coming to Council and Committees that propose new work items or expenditure. 5 Directs staff to return to Council once every six months to review the agreed prioritisation framework and high-level work plan. CARRIED |
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Mount Maunganui Airshed Management Plan Presentation: Mount Maunganui Airshed Management Plan: Objective ID A4840471 ⇨ Presented by: Mark Hamilton - Senior Policy Analyst Karen Parcell - Team Leader, Kaiwhakatinana · The Mount Maunganui Airshed Management Plan (MMAMP) was optional but strongly recommended by the Environmental Court. There was reputational risk if not developed. · Outlined the considerations for a MMAMP, suggested scope and content, and identified actions. 11.44am – Cr Iti withdrew from the meeting. In Response to Questions · Priority One’s voluntary accord came about through a process they undertook themselves. It was understood around 25 to 30 industries were involved, each undertaking to make improvements on their own site, but visibility around this was yet unknown. The group had presented at the last Mount Air Quality Working Party (MAQWP) meeting. Because the accord was voluntary there was no formal accountability except the opportunity to hold each other accountable (peer to peer model), and their improvements were not necessarily addressing PM10 (particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns or less). · The scope of the AMP could be broadened to include other roles and provisions, not just that of BOPRC, but it was noted that the broader the scope, the longer it would take and the more it would cost. · PM2.5 was not currently a significant issue in the Mount Maunganui Airshed (MMA). · Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) Policy 12 focussed on getting the MMA into compliance with National Environmental Standards (NES) as it currently stood with the intent for everyone to meet at least best practice (iterative management). 11.57am – Cr Iti entered the meeting. · The proposed introduction by central government of PM2.5 had been delayed. It was noted that PM10 also included anything smaller than 10 microns.
· Broadening the scope to make this a joint project with Tauranga City Council (TCC) would be considered if TCC thought it appropriate, · Ngāti Kuku had strong input into the MAQWP and would be included via that group in the consultation for the AMP. · The AMP was timely and fully supported it. · Users wanted a one stop shop that could be modified and adjusted over time as required; expressed concern if the AMP was just limited to BOPRC’s role without acknowledgement of what TCC’s role was and what their District Plan said. · Would like to see a communications plan included in the AMP. · Needed to be clear about what the AMP was actually addressing i.e. PC13, just the MMA, or just PM10. Whatever BOPRC did, it needed to be collaborative and involve everybody. · Suggested engaging with the new Chair of the MAQWP as the next step and then come back to this committee with a more broader scope for consideration.
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That the Strategy and Policy Committee: 1 Receives the report, Mount Maunganui Airshed Management Plan. CARRIED |
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Consultation on the Proposed Amendments to the Regional Pest Management Plan Presented by: Lisa Power – Senior Planner Hamish Lass - Biosecurity Team Leader
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That the Strategy and Policy Committee: 1 Receives the report, Consultation on the Proposed Amendments to the Regional Pest Management Plan. 2 Is satisfied that consultation undertaken for the Proposed Regional Pest Management Plan meets the requirements of section 72 of the Biosecurity Act. 3 Approves staff recommendation that matters raised through consultation that sit outside the scope of the proposed amendments (see section 4.1.6) are not considered as part of this plan review. CARRIED |
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Te Uru Kahika - River Managers' Special Interest Group 10 Year Plan Presentation: River Managers' Special Interest Group 10 Year Plan: Objective ID A4840345 ⇨ Presented by: Mark Townsend – Engineering Manager · Outlined where the River Managers’ Special Interest Group (SIG) sat in the Te Uru Kahika structure. · The group involved 16 councils and met six monthly. · Five priority workstreams - enabling collaboration; sustainable funding, project delivery and support; policy influence and implementation; best practice; and quality people. · Had received $20 million funding from central government in tranche one of the Crown Infrastructure Partners – Shovel Ready Projects funding (before the Deluge - Cyclone Gabrielle). Had applied for a further $14 million funding in tranche two. · Overview of the best practice workstream and work currently underway. · Demonstrated (graph) where BOPRC sat in terms of asset management maturity – had scored highest of all regional councils. · Three Te Uru Kahika SIGs (River Managers, Environmental Data, and Hazard Risk Management) had been brought together to form the National Flood Warning Steering Group. · Flood Manual maturity assessment (independently assessed by Tonkin Taylor) – BOPRC was a leader in this area and was offering support to other councils to bring them up to standard. In Response to Questions · There was a graduated contribution to the SIG budget dependent on how large the council was. · Central government funding was based on a 60/40 (local) share. BOPRC had applicable projects with funding support ready to go. · The idea of Centres of Excellence (recent presentation by Simon Upton - Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) to the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Regional Sectors Group) had come through to the group and was a topic of discussion but nothing had been formalised yet. · BOPRC had a graduate programme in place and was actively attracting graduate engineers. · Project options were assessed against a number of criteria, and a traffic light system was used for prioritising options with the addition of a black light which was used when a particular option was not going to work.
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That the Strategy and Policy Committee: 1 Receives the report, Te Uru Kahika - River Managers' Special Interest Group 10 Year Plan. CARRIED |
12.49pm – the meeting closed.
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Chairperson, Strategy and Policy Committee