Tasman District Council's Strategy and Policy Committee has approved continued progress on drafting the Land and Freshwater Plan Change (LFPC) to the Tasman Resource Management Plan. This change aims to address priority land and freshwater management issues in the region, including introducing provisions to support the Water Conservation Order for Te Waikoropupū Springs.
The LFPC is significant in that it seeks to address waterbody health, water quality, water allocation and sediment issues across the region. A key intention of the engagement process is to increase awareness of the responsibility to safeguard and improve the health of our freshwater.
The Council also recognises that some outcomes the plan change will look to achieve may take time and any change needs to be practical and affordable to communities responsible for making that change. The plan change will focus on addressing areas of risk and filling gaps where existing management and national regulation is not meeting the needs for Tasman freshwater management.
In setting the priority issues for the LFPC we are mindful of the need for adaptability around the Government’s review of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management and other law changes that we are expecting.
Priority issues for LFPC 84 are:
- Support for Te Waikoropupū Springs Water Conservation Order.
- Updating the plan provisions for the Waimea Community Dam and management of nitrates in the Waimea Plains aquifers.
- Allocation concerns in some catchments, including the Deep Moutere Aquifers.
- Land disturbance and sediment management.
- Waterbody health and management, and
- Waterbody and community resilience to our changing climate.
While we are operating in a time of legislative uncertainty, there are issues that will not go away, and require action now. Increasing population, pressure on water and land use, including for food production, declining biodiversity and the effects of climate change support the timeliness of this work.
Work will continue to release a draft of the LFPC as soon as possible this year for public feedback. The draft will be informed by ongoing discussion with iwi, landowners and water users, stakeholders and interested parties.
The draft LFPC public engagement process will increase our understanding of how the approaches to managing land and water will affect different sectors of the community and highlight challenges in meeting all the needs for land and water use in the region.
Feedback from this process will help inform changes to the final plan change. A decision on public notification of the plan change will follow once the Council has considered feedback on the draft plan change. For more information check out the Environmental Policy Plan Change hub on Shape Tasman(external link) or email us on freshwater.plan@tasman.govt.nz