Let's take time out on $600m scheme for real consultation

The proposed Ruataniwha water storage scheme in Hawke's Bay, and the Tukituki water management plan related to it, are proceeding at a pace that is dangerously imprudent and unnecessarily fast.

The public has had no informed opportunity to assess whether this $600 million scheme is truly capable of providing the "win-win" that has been promised in environmental and economic terms. Or is even the best approach to water management for the region.

On behalf of Friends of the Tukituki, I am writing to propose a time-out in this process: A 3-month pause I know others in the community would welcome as well.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Council, acting through its corporate agent (the Hawke's Bay Regional Investment Company, HBRIC), has signalled its intention in early May to seek a "call-in" by the environment minister of its resource consent application for the dam and its associated Tukituki Plan Change. Such a call-in would take further environmental decisions about the dam and Tukituki water quality out of local hands, placing them instead in a Wellington-appointed Board of Inquiry. Our organisation, along with others in Hawke's Bay, is opposed to a call-in at this time.

Throughout the so-called collaborative process, HBRC has failed to provide pertinent science and economic information in a complete or timely fashion. And as information does trickle out, the questions and doubts multiply, as faulty assumptions become apparent. Instead of genuine consultation, the regional council has rushed to meet an arbitrary schedule that belies the environmental and financial intricacies of a projected $600 million scheme - the biggest infrastructure investment our region has ever contemplated.

Perhaps the proposed scheme might ultimately meet objectives that all parties could endorse. However, today, with all the uncertainties that persist, no reasonable person in Hawke's Bay can make that judgment.

A scheme of this magnitude and potential significance must have a clear mandate from the ratepayers and voters of Hawke's Bay. It must not be fast-tracked to avoid probing scrutiny.

Today the project has no mandate; merely a cursory - in fact, misleading - mention in the regional council's long-term plan, which gave the public no sense whatsoever of the complex issues, risks and full costs surrounding the initiative.

We believe the residents of Hawke's Bay must have an informed opportunity to express their concerns and see them addressed.

Friends of the Tukituki is asking the environment minister to communicate to the regional council her expectation that, prior to entertaining a call-in application, a proper consultation process must be conducted whereby, with all information on the table, the public can assess the full implications of this project, and its desirability as an investment priority for our region.

The environment minister must say: "Time out!"

What should happen during that pause? Public meetings where pros and cons are presented, not simply council's superficial PowerPoint shows; a public hearing conducted by council, again with all parties welcome to present (and with Ministry for the Environment observers present); perhaps even, once the arguments have been placed on the table, an authentic and objective random survey of Hawke's Bay residents.

In other words, genuine consultation, befitting a potential $600 million project for the region.

We ask readers of this column for your support in calling for a time-out in the process. And only if that pause occurs, and secures broad public buy-in - here, in Hawke's Bay - should this project be deemed ripe for the attention and consideration of central government and any Board of Inquiry.

Colin Crombie is a member of the Friends of the Tukituki and a founding member of the Hawke's Bay Environmental Water Group.

Community and business leaders, organisers, experts in their field, and interest groups are invited to contribute opinions for this column. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz