Annual Report 2025/26 adopted at October Council meeting
The Canterbury Regional Council’s (Environment Canterbury) Annual Report 2025/26 was officially adopted on Wednesday, as councillors met for their October meeting.
The report laid out how the organisation performed against service measures and targets in year two of the Long-Term Plan 2024-34.
Councillors also approved new performance thresholds for Greater Christchurch bus routes, heard deputation on SuperGold Card travel, and agreed to keep progressing Canterbury Water Management Strategy leadership groups.
Acknowledgement of Robbie Brine
The meeting opened with an acknowledgement of the passing of Robbie Brine, who was a Waimakariri District Councillor from 1998 to 2025 – an impressive 27 years in the position – and a serving member of the Rangiora Ashley Community Board since 2025.
Deputation
Martin Owen asked councillors to shorten the afternoon peak charging period for SuperGold Card holders from 3pm–6.30pm to 3pm–5pm. Council received the deputation and agreed to provide a response as soon as practicable.
Annual Report 2025/26 adoption
Councillors will adopted Environment Canterbury’s Annual Report 2025/26, which reports on how we performed against our service measures and targets in year two of the Long-Term Plan 2024-34 over the past financial year.
The Annual Report highlights our achievements across the three core services, other organisational highlights, key contextual information and financial statements and commentary for the year.
Public Transport
Councillors approved new performance measures and thresholds for Greater Christchurch bus routes. Routes will be assessed against farebox recovery, subsidy per passenger and passengers per trip, providing a consistent way to identify services for further review and considering how public transport resources can best meet community needs. The thresholds will not determine whether a service is changed or removed, with any recommendations following a review to come back to Council for decision.
They also agreed to realign Greater Christchurch’s SuperGold Card free travel hours with the national scheme as part of Motu Move. As a result, from 23 November, SuperGold cardholders will need to pay a fare on weekdays between 3.00pm and 6.30pm.
CWMS leadership groups
Environment Canterbury councillors have agreed to keep working with local leaders to progress Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) leadership groups.
Four territorial authorities have indicated they want to move ahead with the leadership group model, while others have shown interest and still establish their positions. Environment Canterbury staff, Ngāi Tahu councillors and constituent regional councillors will continue talking with Papatipu Rūnanga and territorial authorities that are yet to decide whether they want to take part.
The leadership groups are intended to continue a collaborative approach to freshwater management and support local action to achieve CWMS outcomes. Further work and discussions will take place over the coming months before any formal collaborative agreements are brought back to all parties for sign-off.