Word from the Mayor
Central, Regional and Local
Several central government initiatives raise questions about the future of local government such as the three waters reform, and the Resource Management system reform.
Local councils will be asked to decide to participate in the new service delivery system late in 2021, it is proposed that all councils would be included in one of the new water service entities, and the RMA will be repealed and replaced by three new laws – Natural and Built Environment Act, Strategic Planning Act and Managed Retreat and Climate Change Adaption Act. It is critical that we as your elected representatives keep abreast of these proposed changes so that we can make informed decisions that best reflect our community need.
Local authorities in New Zealand are accountable to and largely funded by their own communities. The Local Government Act provides local authorities with the power of general competence which allows for the ability to choose the activities they undertake to fulfill their statutory role and how they should undertake them subject to consultation.
Recently the Canterbury Mayoral forum teamed up with the Regional Transport committee to undertake a freight tour, visiting Christchurch airport, Lyttleton Port Company, Move Logistics in Rolleston and the Timaru port.
The intention of the tour was to gain a greater insight of the freight systems and how they integrate throughout the region.
As one of the Canterbury Mayoral forum key objectives is to identify better freight options with an expressed desire to shift freight movements off road where possible and onto rail and coastal shipping.
The Regional Transport committee comprises of the Mayors of Canterbury therefore it was a perfect opportunity to listen to the issues facing air, sea, road and rail.
At a local level the Hanmer Springs design standards consultation has commenced, this is a Plan Change process under the Hurunui District Plan. The Plan Change enables a review of the design standards applied to buildings within the Hanmer Springs Township and Hanmer Basin Management area. The plan change seeks to ensure that design standards are as efficient and effective as possible and that they balance maintaining the identified character of the area while better enabling the built environment.
Details on the plan change are available on the councils website www.hurunui.govt.nz/pc5 submissions for this will close on Monday 5 April 2021.