Statement from chief executive Rob Phillips

5/09/2019

Environment Southland welcomes the Government’s latest Essential Freshwater package and the goal of improving water quality and ecosystem health.

The proposed changes to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and the National Environmental Standards aim to refine the tools at our disposal, and this will help us to continue progressing the environmental outcomes that our communities want.

Environment Southland has been working with landowners, iwi and community groups to get action on the ground for many years. We have progressed the proposed Southland Water and Land Plan and developed the Regional Forum to ensure we have the policies and rules in place to support the change that is required to achieve our communities’ aspirations for water in Southland.

The proposals announced today are wide reaching, and it is too early to fully understand what the impacts will be. It’s important that we take time to look at the detail and understand the significant amount of regulatory change that is proposed and what this will mean for our work programmes and our communities. So we won’t be in a position to comment further at this time.

We believe our proposed Southland Water and Land Plan and the work already underway with the Regional Forum and with our communities align us well with the direction the proposed National Policy Statement and National Environmental Standards are taking.

For now, we encourage Southlanders to attend one of the Ministry for the Environment’s public meetings, read the consultation document and make a submission.

Go to the Ministry for the Environment's website to view the consultation document and full details - https://www.mfe.govt.nz/more/consultations