Canterbury Water Management
Minister Carter, (any MPs), Mark Solomon, Fellow Mayors, Chairman of ECan Sir Kerry Burke, members of the Steering Group of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy, ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to acknowledge the work of the former Mayor of Selwyn, Michael McEvedy, who chaired the Steering Group for the first five years of its existence.
This is a very important occasion and it is very appropriate that we recognise it in this way. It is entirely appropriate that on this beautiful day we are standing on the banks of the iconic Avon River.
It is so important because we are dealing with matters that do not just affect us and our world of today, but the world of our children and our children’s children.
We have an intergenerational responsibility to make sure that we bequeath to future generations a vibrant and productive economy on which they can build their future prosperity, and also a vibrant and protected natural environment on which they can build those other dimensions that make us human, while also allowing our current generation to prosper.
This is very important and time for procrastination has ended.
This draft strategy is only the beginning. In fact, it is the beginning of the beginning. It has advanced us in one very specific area – it has presented a vision and purpose, and some machinery we can use to achieve that vision and purpose.
Now we need to go on and develop more detail around the strategy so that it is as robust as possible.
In that sense it is a leadership document and that’s what the Mayoral Forum was looking for from the Steering Group – a direction that all interests and all points of view could focus around to carry us forward. I want to thank the Steering Group for their excellent work on this project – a sentiment that I’m sure is echoed by my fellow mayors and chair. We will remember this when we are dealing with some of the hard issues further down the track because what you have done here is of considerable quality and will inspire us to find solutions.
It is appropriate that I acknowledge the sterling work of the many officers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes ¾ a team led by CEO Bryan Jenkins, Ken Taylor, Christine Robb ¾ and where would we be without our P A Raewyn Crowther who managed the mountain of paper work, co-ordinated meetings etc.
I must especially mention Geoff Henley and his team at Network P R. Geoff was new to Canterbury water issues two yeas ago and has done an absolutely brilliant job, not only understanding the subtleties around the “water” debate, but in co-ordinating the development of the report and ensuring that we get to the point that allows us to be here today. On behalf of all of us, thank you Geoff.
I also want to acknowledge the commitment to finding solutions that I experienced around the table at the Steering Group. You all have your own interests and represent very diverse constituencies. You were strong in what you believed as a result of which we have a much more robust outcome.
I thank you for your forthrightness and honesty and your commitment to find a solution. I know we can carry that out into the community as we focus around the next steps.
We tend to think first in a situation like this that our challenges are in the environmental versus development conundrum. Well, many are, but there are other very important issues.
The relationship with Ngai Tahu is critical and it doesn’t just involve us, but the Crown as well. We hope we have set in motion processes that will enhance this relationship at all levels.
I would like to thank Mark Solomon and Ngai Tahu for their active involvement.
There are many farmers, irrigators and generators out there who have had involvement in the formation of the strategy. We understand that for all of them we are talking about their livelihood and that is vital to them, but we have been greeted with open-mindedness and a willingness to open up subjects that have at times in the past been sacrosanct. In the same vein we need to acknowledge those with an environmental and recreational background. Your spirit of co-operation and willingness to collaborate was very much appreciated.
We need to continue this process. We believe there are win/win solutions to be had that will benefit everyone. They will take time to craft as we move into the next phase of this strategy, but craft them we must and to the highest levels of craftsmanship, if I could put it that way, because what we will be creating through this strategy has to be built to last, to stand the test of time and bequeath value to our future generations.
So we have completed the beginning of the beginning. The real challenge is in the implementation and that is going to require a solid commitment from us all.
The strategy has placed a high degree of trust in the idea of zone and regional water committees. These are a response to what we heard time and again through the consultation. You said to us “let us get together, discuss our differences and find solutions, we believe we can”. We have taken you at your word. We believe that local solutions between people who know each other, know the geography, have an emotional commitment to the land, the water and the total environment are the ones to be finding solutions. With the strategy we have provided the framework within which you can operate.
These groups will be widely representative. They will contain people from very different perspectives and at times the going will be tough, but I saw good things come out of that type of situation around the Steering Group table and I have no reason to believe it will be any different out there in the zones. The Mayoral Forum wants to see capable people with the knowledge, energy and leadership qualities represented on these groups working together to find solutions.
Even before we get to that stage the strategy has to be considered by each of the district, city and regional councils. All will have crucial role to play in the implementation of the strategy at each of its levels. This strategy cannot founder on political difference. We have to find the common ground and move forward. We have been offered a chance here that may not be available to us again for a very long time and we owe it to ourselves and future generations to carry this forward.
In conclusion, I have two thoughts I want to leave you with. The first is about breaking down stereotypes. Too often I have heard phrases like “Cantabrians just can’t agree on some of these things”, “Cantabrians are more litigious than anywhere else in New Zealand”, and so on. It has become evident to me that as the pressure has come onto our natural resources we have not had the framework from the RMA in particular, and within our own structures, to deal with the problems adequately or pro-actively. At times we have been quick to blame. Instead we have to get these structures right and working well. The problems are large and at times wicked, to coin a phrase, and they require robust frameworks and plans that address the problems at all levels. I believe we now have a direction with this strategy. I don’t believe that Cantabrians are any more argumentative than anyone else, they simply value their assets, their environment and their heritage with a passion and will defend it. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as we reach out for common solutions.
My second point is that we need to be open-minded to the scale and impact of the solutions that are required. While we want solutions that are in the national context and ideally aligned nationally, they must be solutions for which we as Cantabrians have an emotional involvement in and commitment too. We are proud of what we have achieved in this province built over generations. Last weekend we showed we can win the Ranfurly Shield with relative ease, it seemed. But the water issue will not be solved as easily and will take some time. It has tested us and at best we have struggled with it. We need to put our heads down, bend our backs and show both skill and humility on this issue and find solutions on our own initiative. We can control our own destiny.
We must make this work!
Thank you.
BEDE O’MALLEY