A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
Many people will have hoped that nearly three months after the land-use inquiry panel delivered its report and recommendations, the Government response yesterday would itself have been a comprehensive package of action — rather than backing for such a package, with commitment to change based on the report’s findings.
Ministerof Forestry Peeni Henare presaged that concern in a pre-prepared media statement acknowledging that “communities want this prioritised”; however: “We need to reach a shared view of the size of the problem, actions to take and how the response should be paid for.”
Environment Minister David Parker, who was to front the update announcement yesterday alongside Henare but was unwell, said: “Each of the report’s recommendations was carefully considered, and we are firmly focused on reducing risk and setting this region up for sustainable longer term change. Our response has two phases: immediate actions, then building resilience.”
That first phase included $10.15m already made available for the clean-up of 70,000 tonnes of woody debris, $202m for silt and debris removal in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti, and $377m for highway repairs between Napier and Ōpōtiki.
Of the 49 recommendations in the inquiry report, eight were not being progressed for reasons including: the recommendation had already been formally declined by the Government (for example, fast-track consent of Te Araroa Kāhui Kupenga Marine Facility proposal); it would set an unsustainable precedent (for example, shifting funding responsibility from local to central government for flood protection and control).
Regarding the statutory resource management adviser to support Gisborne District Council, and a facilitator to build partnerships and support an integrated approach to the recovery, it was noted that: “Engagement with councils and hapū/iwi on terms of reference for the ministerial appointees will take place over the next few weeks.”
On the recommendation to approve a Just Transition process, the response was: “MBIE has a Just Transitions work programme already under way that includes Tairāwhiti. A number of the Government’s responses to the recommendations of the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use will contribute to a just transition for Tairāwhiti. More work needs to be done to understand and agree regional ambitions.”
