The Makaroro River in Central Hawke's Bay where the Ruataniwha Dam was first planned, before the plans collapsed. Photo / NZME
A small group of farmers hoping to revive plans for a new dam or similar water storage facility in Hawke’s Bay have had $250,000 worth of regional council fees wiped.
The contentious decision to cancel that debt has drawn a mixed response.
The decision relates to outstanding debt accrued by Water Holdings Hawke’s Bay - a small group of farmers holding water-storage consents from the failed Ruataniwha Dam proposal in Central Hawke’s Bay.
Those consents incur Hawke’s Bay Regional Council fees each year, known as freshwater science charges, and they have added up to a significant sum over the years - to the tune of about $380,000.
A council decision was made in 2022 to defer the charges and a follow-up decision was made recently on whether to cancel the debt.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chief executive Nic Peet decided to forgive two-thirds - $255,362 - of the group’s debt.
Water Holdings Hawke’s Bay has paid the $127,681 remainder.
A Hawke’s Bay Regional Council spokesperson said the chief executive made the decision “under his delegated authority” at the end of 2023, and it was not made by councillors.
Nothing has been built as part of the consents, such as a dam.
“The judgment on remission needed to consider the extent to which the consent holder had benefitted from HBRC’s water and environmental monitoring, and the extent to which the charges related to the effects of the connected activity,” the spokesperson said.
Water Holdings Hawke’s Bay director Hugh Ritchie said “any remission was good” but it was “still a pill to swallow” having to pay $127,000, as nothing had been done with the consents.
“The argument still has been that science charges are there to monitor the effect of a consent on the environment, and we are having no effect at all,” he said.
“It was a sticking point that people claimed that we were not paying our dues, but I think there was a rational argument as to why we were discussing and challenging the amount and paying them at all.
“To move things forward we have paid what we’ve paid.”
He said the group had made a submission on the regional council’s proposed long-term plan about reducing science charges for consent holders who did not act on consents.
“It is not that we are sitting on our ass doing nothing, and so why should we pay, it is the fact that we legally can’t do anything [with the consents].”
Another group, Wise Water Use Hawke’s Bay, has slammed the decision to cancel the $250,000 in fees. “[The regional council has] delivered a whopping two-thirds discount on their bill at a time when ratepayers face massive rates increases in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle,” spokesman Trevor Le Lievre said.
Le Lievre said Water Holdings Hawke’s Bay knew they did not have the land when they purchased the consents in 2018, and should be made to pay all the associated fees.
He also said it was concerning that the decision had been made by the chief executive instead of the elected council.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently told Hawke’s Bay Today he wants to remove “red tape” preventing large-scale water storage projects from being built both in Hawke’s Bay and nationally.
The failed Ruataniwha Dam proposal, which the regional council first began investigations into in 2008, was originally intended as a long-term water supply solution for Central Hawke’s Bay.
The Supreme Court found in 2017 that the then Minister of Conservation acted illegally by trying to make 22ha of Ruahine Forest Park available for exchange to the regional council’s Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company Limited for the $330 million project.
As a result, the regional council voted unanimously in 2017 to move on from the Ruataniwha Dam scheme and focus its efforts on other priorities.
Water Holdings Hawke’s Bay bought the consents, related to that dam proposal, for $100,000. The group is pushing for a similar project under a new name, the Makaroro Storage Scheme.
Freshwater science charges are intended to recoup a chunk of the costs the regional council incurs from its monitoring and management of effects, or potential effects, of consents on the region’s freshwater resources.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.