Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Editorial: Council restores some order

By Mark Dawson
Whanganui Chronicle·
1 Mar, 2017 06:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle
Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

After finding themselves in the firing line this month, Horizons regional councillors and staff restored some order at their meeting in Palmerston North on Tuesday.

The council voted to add the "H' to Whanganui and so make its official title the Manawatu-Whanganui Regional Council.

How the "H" had gone missing is a little perplexing - as a local government body it would have fallen under last year's ruling that all government agencies should move toward adopting the controversial consonant after the district's name was officially changed.

The police, courts, health board and all government ministries and assorted quasi-government organisations have taken up the "Whanganui" spelling, but when addressing the dreaded debate last year, Horizons produced a for-and-against dead heat and so the status quo prevailed.

That issue was dealt with on Tuesday, as was an arguably more important one - the revoking of the profitability test when granting consents for nitrogen leaching for
farmers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That piece of legislation was described as "unlawful" by Environment Court judge Craig Thompson at the hearing this month to consider objections from environmental groups to the way Horizons granted consents under its One Plan scheme.

The Environment Court hearing saw plenty of flak flying in Horizons direction, mainly around the notion it was giving farmers too much slack when it came to polluting waterways.

The case could be a precursor to other challenges to local authorities on how they administer consents, and has the potential for a lot of costly litigation.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It also put a spotlight on the delicate - and difficult - balance the regional council has to strike between the necessity of food production and the protection of the environment.

So as it has soaked up its share of criticism, it should be pointed out that Horizons has had its successes in cleaning up waterways.

It reports nitrogen leaching down 11 per cent overall, with 58 per cent of tested sites showing a reduction, and 80 per cent of the 85 tested swim spots in the Manawatu catchment rated "swimmable" this summer.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui weather: Cold snap gives way to milder week

09 Jun 11:02 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

New zone to simplify Manawatū-Whanganui tsunami evacuation

09 Jun 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Strong second half powers Taihape to win

09 Jun 05:00 PM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
NZ Rugby announce launch of Fantasy Rugby Championship
All Blacks

NZ Rugby announce launch of Fantasy Rugby Championship

10 Jun 05:00 AM
Wellington mega-landlord facing violence and firearms charges
New Zealand

Wellington mega-landlord facing violence and firearms charges

10 Jun 04:43 AM
Armed police arrest man outside Napier restaurant
Hawkes Bay Today

Armed police arrest man outside Napier restaurant

10 Jun 04:36 AM
Magic take home second win in a row against Stars
Sport

Magic take home second win in a row against Stars

10 Jun 04:33 AM
'New perspective on life': Alone: Australia's first Kiwi winner on what got him through
Entertainment

'New perspective on life': Alone: Australia's first Kiwi winner on what got him through

10 Jun 04:31 AM

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui weather: Cold snap gives way to milder week

Whanganui weather: Cold snap gives way to milder week

09 Jun 11:02 PM

Whanganui hill country had temperatures drop to -3C overnight on Monday.

New zone to simplify Manawatū-Whanganui tsunami evacuation

New zone to simplify Manawatū-Whanganui tsunami evacuation

09 Jun 06:00 PM
Strong second half powers Taihape to win

Strong second half powers Taihape to win

09 Jun 05:00 PM
'Really shook me': Council calls out abuse from public

'Really shook me': Council calls out abuse from public

09 Jun 05:00 PM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search