West Coast council staff redeployed as Govt looks to ditch reforms

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

Staff are being redeployed and projects paused at a West Coast council as a raft of reforms are potentially ditched.

Officials at the West Coast Regional Council have welcomed the new Government's promise to roll back planned environmental legislation and allow for "sensitive" mining.

West Coast Regional Council chief executive Darryl Lew said he was already redirecting staff as a result of the change in Government.

"I am either slowing down or stopping a lot of our work in anticipation ... I'm going to be very judicious how I apply council's limited resources at the moment," he said.

Specifically, he welcomed the promise to end Resource Management Act reforms.

"I'm not going to put any resources into them at the moment".

The Labour-led Government reforms had created a significant workload for regional councils, he said.

The new Government wants to scrap a number of policies, including Resource Management Act reforms and the Significant Natural Area (SNA) provision, which has proved controversial on the West Coast.

The former Government brought in the provisions for SNAs before the election. SNAs are areas home to native plants and/or animals, and require a higher level of protection.

National leader Christopher Luxon has also signalled he is open to allowing greater mining if it can be done in a "sensitive" way to balance economic and environmental interests.

Resource Management Committee chairperson Brett Cummings said he was pleased the new Government has promised to revise current policy directions.

"The farm plans and the freshwater [policy] - that was going to be the biggest impediment for the West Coast."

Cummings said the new Government aligned with how the region felt about the impact of environmental legislation on the region's economy.

However, he acknowledged some would oppose an approach that may allow for more mining on the West Coast.

"I know there is going to be a lot of push back."

Forest and Bird West Coast branch chairperson Suzanne Hills said the region's unique environment would bear a direct cost due to the new Government's direction.

"We're really concerned because we're all about giving a voice to nature -- and the environment is an integral part of the West Coast - Poutini. The environment is our greatest asset."

However, West Coast Regional Council chairperson Peter Haddock welcomed the direction of the new Government.

Haddock said councils had been grappling with how to shoulder the cost of new environmental legislative requirements.

In particular, he said the pullback on implementing the SNA provisions would be significant.

"It will be a heck of a lot of a saving to our ratepayers because at the end of the day it costs to review (SNAs)."

The change would bring much needed relief for the stretched regional council sector, he said.

"Things have happened way too quickly and there hasn't been enough time for proper consultation. [But] the devil will be in the detail".