Ashburton people get a chance to have a say on water

The Ashburton Zone Committee is asking local people to have a say on water management in their area.

The committee – established under the Canterbury Water Management Strategy – has released its Draft Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP) for public feedback.

The draft ZIP recommends actions, responsibilities and time-frames for activities to help achieve the principles, targets and goals set out in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS).

Committee Chair Matthew Hall says the completion of the draft ZIP is the culmination of months of hard work by the zone committee.

“We have worked hard to begin establishing a programme that integrates the water management issues identified by the community into a process that will deliver acceptable solutions.

“And now we need to hear what local people think of the recommendations. We are particularly interested to hear what recommendations people like, what they don’t like, and whether there are things they think should be included.”

The Ashburton Draft ZIP is the second prepared for community discussion, following the presentation of Hurunui-Waiau’s final ZIP to councils last month.

“The Ashburton Draft ZIP has been developed following numerous committee meetings and extensive stakeholder and community engagement to gather information about the region’s water resource.”

In late July more than 100 people attended public meetings in the Ashburton district to discuss the water management priorities. The feedback from the meetings helped guide the committee’s Draft ZIP for water management.

The Ashburton Draft ZIP includes recommendations on four key priority areas; Hakatere / Ashburton River, ecosystem health and biodiversity, water quality, and water quantity.

Matthew Hall says how water is allocated and used is crucial to the future of the region so people should feel compelled to have their say.

“The underlying philosophy of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy is that local communities should be making decisions on local water management. The Ashburton Draft ZIP is the mechanism for delivering these goals so it’s important people have their say.

“The committee has operated in a collaborative manner and taken a consensus approach to developing the Draft ZIP.

“As such it reflects a commitment by all committee members to achieve an agreed outcome that will deliver all the CWMS targets in the zone,” he said.

The Ashburton Draft ZIP prioritises the ten Canterbury Water Management Strategy targets in the Ashburton zone and suggests actions to achieve the milestones set out in the Strategy.

The Ashburton Draft ZIP contains more than 70 recommendations to the Asburton District Council, Environment Canterbury and other stakeholders.

Community members will have until 21 October to provide their feedback on the Ashburton Draft ZIP.

This can be done by visiting the Ashburton Zone Implementation Programme page, by collecting a copy of the draft ZIP from Environment Canterbury (Ellesmere Centre, 24 Edward Street, Lincoln) or Ashburton District Council Offices, or by attending one of the public meetings being organised for the last week of September.