27 Jan 2010: Mackenzie call in

Welcome to 2010. I hope everyone has had the chance for something of a summer break, and you’re feeling as refreshed and ready for 2010 as I am.

I’ve had a great time away, getting around various parts of the country, including Takaka, Hawke’s Bay, and Gisborne. We live in a truly magnificent country and it’s part of what motivates me in my position as Commissioner.

The year is already well underway. Three dairy companies have asked for discharge consents in the Mackenzie Basin that would see effluent from a city nearly the size of Christchurch being discharged. I am very pleased to see that the Minister for the Environment has recognised that the scale of proposed discharges is an issue of national importance and merited to be called in.

As I recommended in my report Change in the High Country, any developments of national significance, like this, must be considered on a national scale. I shall watch with interest as the high calibre panel of inquiry consider the consents.

I have a busy schedule for first half of the year, with reports planned on state of the environment monitoring, the new environmental protection authority, lignite, and biofuels. We continue to follow the roll out of smart meters for measuring electricity use. Legislation on aquaculture, electricity reforms and potentially other RMA issues are also either active or on the horizon. 

Finally I would like to offer my congratulations to the team at BRANZ who have achieved the Diamond Enviro-Mark NZ Certification, equivalentthe ISO 14001, the International Environmental standard for environmental performance. I was very happy to present them with their award at the end of last year.