From our Chair: A year of partnerships, plans and pivoting

During our LTP we agreed to a new $1m Targeted Rate for Biodiversity within Ōtautahi/Christchurch and Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū/Banks Peninsula.

We also agreed to complete the review of the 2008 Canterbury Biodiversity Strategy.

Both projects are underway, with a new $400,000 fund opening for applications in October and a further $200,000 being distributed to support covenanting agencies.

Staff are also busy undertaking the background work on the strategy, as well as setting up the steering group and collaborative group and engaging a facilitator to guide the completion of the strategy by mid-2025.

Earlier this year, Councillors voted to retain the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Act after the Government asked us to repeal it.

The discussion in the lead-up to this vote was an opportunity to highlight the gains that have been made since the Act passed into law in 2022 and to reaffirm our commitment to having mana whenua representatives at our table.

Our decision this month to support a submission on the Treaty Principles Bill was a further chance to acknowledge the progress achieved through the years of good-faith dialogue and collaboration that underpin our partnership.

In recent months, staff have completed a major programme of work to help restore the region’s resilience to flooding after the 2021 flood event.

The project focused on more than 400 repair jobs across Central and South Canterbury. This included:

• rebuilding more than 5km of stopbanks
• undertaking erosion and scour protection
• planting more than 60,000 native and exotic trees.

In many cases, we were able to replant existing trees that had washed out but were still alive after the flood.

This mahi wouldn’t be possible without the support of our communities - hundreds of landowners and dozens of contractors - who tirelessly worked alongside us for the past three years.

The total cost of flood recovery work came down to $22.6 million and we thank the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for helping co-fund about $8.3 million of this through a one-off emergency fund.

Kānoa funding

We were also successful in gaining some funding in the Government’s budget from ‘Kānoa – Regional Development and Commercial Services’  for tranche 1 of flood resilience projects.

The projects in Waitaha that will benefit are the Rangitata Flood and Resilience Works – Stage 2, Regional Structure Upgrade and Adaptation Programme, and Waitarakao/Washdyke/Seadown Works.

Kānoa is co-funding up to 60 per cent of these projects through the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF). Environment Canterbury is funding the rest through rate collection.  

District-wide rate for the Waikirikiri/Selwyn River

Finally, as part of the LTP, we implemented the district-wide rate for the Waikirikiri/Selwyn River. This is a dedicated separate rate charged to Selwyn district ratepayers for flood protection work including the clearing out of channels and flow paths, weed control, and berm strengthening.

This is in addition to the six dedicated river and drainage rating districts that exist on the periphery of this work area. We are committed to working with the local community and Selwyn District Council to understand key pressure points and improve flood resilience of the whole catchment.

With our $2 fare trial into its second year, we hit a major milestone of going above our post-earthquake patronage on Public Transport. It’s been pleasing to see the simple and cost-effective fares making a difference, especially with our younger passengers.

While this has been going on, we have also been working on being the first to implement the National Ticketing Solution – Motu Move. More on this below.

Throughout the year, we have worked with the region’s 10 district and city councils to develop the Canterbury Climate Partnership Plan, as well as complete our climate action plan.

These plans bring together the major climate actions we are working on as a Council and region to protect the unique taiao (environment) of Waitaha/Canterbury and make it a thriving, climate-resilient place to be.

Sorting our consents backlog has been a big priority, and a massive task.

I am happy to acknowledge that in late November, the final consent from over 1,200 legacy cases was addressed – some dating back to 2002 – yes, more than 20 years ago! This is a tremendous milestone - and we’re putting steps in place to ensure we keep on top of the new work coming in.