Regional and strategic leadership

Target 31.1: Participate in hui/meetings with all 10 Canterbury Papatipu Rūnanga during the year.

Result: We hold regular hui for the ten Papatipu Rūnanga across Waitaha, including Te Rōpū Tuia and Te Paiherenga*. In 2022/23, we held additional hui with some Papatipu Rūnanga on specific kaupapa, e.g. gravel management, fish screens.

Target 31.2: Investigate the feasibility of establishing at least one new co-governance or co-management arrangement.

Result: For 2021/22, the target was to identify, with Papatipu Rūnanga, at least three locations or resources where new co-governance/co-management arrangements were to be investigated. This was achieved.

For 2022/23, for one of those locations, we are working with Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua, Timaru District Council and the Department of Conservation on a joint management approach to restore the health of Waitarakao Washdyke Lagoon. A strategy is being developed, guided by both a Working Group and a Steering Group, made up of key staff and representatives from partner organisations. See page 32 for more details.

Target 32.1a: Engage with People’s Panel at least once each quarter.

Result: In 2021/22, the target was to establish a People Panel. Te Kōrari, the People’s Panel, was launched in 2021/22. For 2022/23, Te Kōrari, the People’s Panel were contacted each quarter, and asked to respond to a survey on a different theme or topic. The feedback received was considered by staff and Councillors as part of decision making processes.

Target 32.1b: Implement a programme of Councillor community engagements across the region, with attendance at one or more community events in each constituency.

Result: Councillors attended a wide range of events across the region, raising awareness of the work of the Council.

Target 32.1c: Maintain or increase the level of awareness against the previous year.

Result: In an independent survey of a random sample of community members, one in three (33%) participants were aware that they can have a say in the work we do. The survey has a margin of error of ≥4.4%, making this no change from the 2022 survey (34%).

Target 32.2: Provide support for an additional 25 Enviroschools from the 2021 waiting list by the end of 2022/23.

Result: 25 additional Enviroschools have signed up for the programme and are being supported in their work. In 2021/22, the target was to develop a civic education programme for young people in partnership with other agencies. This was achieved.

Target 32.3: Initiate at least 10 events or activities involving young people.

Result: The Youth Rōpū initiated and attended a wide range of events and activities, in-person and online.

Target 32.4: Review and update processes based on applicant feedback and report on allocation of the contestable fund.

Result: The target for 2021/22 was to establish a contestable fund. The new fund, the Waitaha Action to Impact Fund, was launched in August 2022.

In 2022/23, the processes for the Waitaha Action to Impact Fund were reviewed with minor improvements for the 2022 funding round, based on feedback from applicants.

For 2022/23, the funding available was increased through the Annual Plan process to $600k and 66 new applications were received (totalling $1.3M). 35 community -led projects were allocated funding for 2022/23 from the Waitaha Action to Impact Fund. This is a combination of 14 successful applicants from 2021 receiving multi-year allocations, and 21 new applicants for 2022. View successful applications to the Waitaha Action to Impact fund.

Target 33.1: Provide secretariat and policy support for the five regional forums.

Result: Following the local body elections in October 2022, and the signing of the new Canterbury Local Authorities’ Triennium Agreement in March 2023, the number of regional forums increased to seven. We provided secretariat support to the Canterbury Mayoral, Chief Executives, Corporate, Operations, Policy, Economic Development and Communications and Engagement Forums to enable their efficient and effective operation. This has included facilitating engagement with Central Government on several key matters, including resource management, health, three waters reforms and the Future for Local Government review.

Target 34.1: Prepare draft Canterbury Regional Policy Statement and Section 32 report.

Result: Preparation of the Regional Policy Statement and Section 32 report is underway. In 2021/22 the target was to seek feedback from Papatipu Rūnanga and the wider community on issues and options, and this work was delayed but has progressed during the 2022/23 year. See pages 8-9 for more information.

Target 34.2: Provide planning support for Canterbury territorial authorities completing District Plan Reviews and Plan Changes on issues of regional significance.

Result: Each year our planners work with the region’s Territorial Authorities (TAs) to provide planning support on issues of regional significance, such as district plan reviews, private plan change requests, district development strategies, bylaws, and regionally significant notified resource consent applications. The majority of the work is responsive to the work programmes of the Canterbury TAs but some is led (or jointly led) by us, particularly in relation to the Greater Christchurch Partnership.

Target 35.1: Process ≥95% of resource consent applications in accordance with RMA statutory timeframes.

Result: For 2022/23, 914 resource consent application decisions were issued and 318 (34.8%) were processed in accordance with RMA statutory timeframes, down from 91.5% in 2021/22. As noted on page 54, a number of factors have contributed to this, including a backlog of consent applications in process. There is a remediation plan in place. Of the 914 consents decided, 898 were non-notified, 7 were limited notified, and 9 were publicly notified.

Target 35.2: Assess a sample of consent applications, undertaken by an external consultant, to determine that Environment Canterbury is fully compliant with the requirements of the RMA.

Result: This target is measured every second year, and was not measured in 2022/23. In 2021/22, an assessment undertaken by an external consultant determined that we were fully compliant with the requirements of the RMA for processing consent applications.

Target 35.3: Monitor ≥80% of priority consents. (as identified in the Compliance Five-year Plan)

Result: 72.7% or 730 of 1,004 high-priority consents were monitored. This compares with 76.4%or 674 of 882 high-priority consents monitored in 2021/22. Further information is provided on page 54.

Target 35.4: Respond to ≥80% of elevated (high priority) pollution events within two days.

Result: We responded to 83.7% (691) of 826 elevated pollution events within two days. This compares with 82.4% (760) of 922 in 2021/22.

Target 36.1a: Publish an unmodified independent audit report for the Annual Report (2021/22).

Result: Our Annual Report/Te Pūrongo ā-Tau 2021/22 was adopted at the 19 December 2022 Council meeting.

Target 36.1b: Adopt Annual Plan (2023/24) prior to 1 July 2023.

Result: Our Annual Plan Mahere ā Tau 2023/24 was adopted at the 21 June 2023 Council meeting.

Target 37.1: Maintain Fitch AA rating or equivalent.

Result: In May 2020, on the advice of our Treasury Advisor, Bancorp Treasury Services, we engaged Fitch Australia Pty Ltd to provide an internationally recognised credit rating and subsequent annual reviews. Our initial rating was provided in August 2020 and resulted in an AA+ result. This was affirmed in August 2021, and reviewed in July 2022. Our AA+ rating is retained with no action required.

Target 38.1: a) Criteria for identifying climate change outcomes with work programmes are reviewed and, if necessary, refined.
b) Increased expenditure, as a percentage of the total, compared with the preceding financial year, for work programmes that meet the criteria.

Result: We have investigated what would be required to measure this target and concluded that resources would be better used to integrate this measure into the climate change action plan workstream (LOS 23.3).

Target 39.1: Ensure Canterbury’s State of the Environment monitoring results are accessible via the Environment Canterbury website, and Land Air Water Aotearoa.

Result: Our website makes environmental monitoring data and information accessible to the public, including quick access to the frequently requested monitoring data for rainfall, river flows, water quality, air quality, and coastal wave data. Links from our website go to environmental reporting and information on the Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website – our regional state of the environment reporting platform.

Target 39.2: Curate and share our data following agreed methods, standards, and procedures based on government open data guidelines.

Result: Our existing data governance framework has continued to function but changes to ways of working and an external review has identified areas for development and improvement. In alignment with the Government’s open data guidelines, we share our data with the public through multiple channels. Canterbury Maps and the Open Data Portal on our website are curated data sets that have been published externally through automated and standardised procedures. The data sets that are published have been reviewed to ensure quality of data.

Target 39.3: Investigate new tools and methods to ‘bring data to life’, enabling access to and visibility of data for the community and other users.

Result: As part of our integrated planning work programme to review the Regional Policy Statement and parts of the Land and Water Regional Plan (and implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020), we developed and published new information on our website called ‘what we know’. This showcases what we know about the resource management issues affecting the Canterbury/Waitaha region and its people. With enhanced functionality for users, these web pages include navigation to interactive maps and current state of environment statistics, together with explanatory text, photos, and infographics.

Target 39.4a: Track user statistics and identify trends, including for Canterbury maps, Data Catalogue/ Open Data Portal, and Water data* to demonstrate the availability of data sharing and use.

Result: For our website, the pages with the highest traffic are those providing data on river flow, rainfall, and air quality. Canterbury Maps: In 2022/23 over 325,000 users compared with 300,000 in 2021/22.

• Our Open Data Portal (a directory of all our publicly available datasets): around 4,300 users compared with around 6,000 in 2021/22.
• Water data: the developer data portal is a new data service available on our website. It provides water flow data via Application Programming Interface (API) format that enables creation

Target 39.4b: Share publicly available mātauranga Māori through Canterbury Maps and the Environment Canterbury document library, and ensure it is reviewed and updated at least annually.

Result: The content of Canterbury Maps and the Ngāi Tahu layer collection is regularly reviewed and updated. For example, in 2022/23 we have continued to update the Black Maps layer, and four layers of the Ngāi Tahu Atlas resource, Ka Huru Manu, were added to the Canterbury Maps Viewer as default layers. We have also shared explanatory data with LINZ to support them in operationalising new provisions in their Crown Pastoral Land Act, as requested by Ngāi Tahu. Mātauranga Māori content is made available through our website and document library as appropriate. An example is the range of resources available on mahinga kai that can be accessed on our website.

Target 40.1: Ensure 100% of Council and Committee meeting dates, locations and agendas are publicly available at least two days before the meeting.

Result: Council and Committee meeting information was made publicly available at least two days before the meeting.

Target 40.2: Respond to 100% of official information requests within statutory timeframes.

Result: For the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, we received 226 formal requests for information. Unfortunately, we missed the statutory deadline by one day for one request. This was received during the period of Cyclone Gabrielle when there were additional pressures on our staff, some of who who were providing assistance for the emergency response. This was a complex information request, involving 160 pages of material. All others were responded to within the statutory timeframes.
In 2021/22 we received 254 official information requests and missed the deadline for responding to three of these due to a system error.