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the Vision and Strategy. This has occurred
under the guise of district and regional plan
reviews led by those local authorities rather
than through any private plan change process
initiated by the Authority itself.
The most important milestone for the Vision
and Strategy has been its adoption in the
Proposed Waikato Regional Policy Statement
in its entirety. This went further than the
requirements needed to “review the Waikato
Regional Policy Statement to see whether it
is consistent with the Vision and Strategy”.
A second important milestone for the Vision
and Strategy occurred in October 2014 when
the Environment Court released a significant
decision affecting the interpretation of
the Vision and Strategy. The Court in Puke
Coal Limited v Waikato District Council &
Waikato Regional Council [2014] NZEnvC
223 accepted/found that including the Vision
and Strategy in the relevant regional and
district plans has led to a stepwise change
in the approach to consents affecting the
catchment of the Waikato and Waipa River.
The Court identified that it should not be
“business-as-usual” where effects on the
Waikato and Waipa River are concerned.
Further degradation must be halted, and
improvements must be achieved in the
health and wellbeing of the river over time.
In short, the Court has signalled that if it
grants consent, this will only be on the
basis that the applicant protects against
any possible discharges to the relevant
waterways to the fullest extent practicable,
and in addition undertakes further works/
actions which will contribute to improving
the quality of those waterways over time.
Significant implementation of the Vision and
Strategy is required by the Waikato Regional
Council. The Waikato Regional Council is
required to assess whether its regional plan
gives effect to the Vision and Strategy, and
to initiate an amendment to the plan if it
does not give effect to it. A full review of
the Vision and Strategy has not yet been
completed. A process to review the Waikato
Regional Plan is one way of contributing to
the achievement of the Vision and Strategy.
The Healthy Rivers Plan Change is therefore
the primary vehicle to achieve the objectives
of the Vision and Strategy.
The Healthy Rivers Plan Change is about
working with river iwi, the Authority and
other key stakeholders to develop policy
to help restore and protect the health
of the Waikato and Waipa rivers. This
project recognises that addressing water
quality is a complex issue requiring strong
collaboration with all those who have
different tools available to develop and
implement long term solutions.
23
Waikato River Authority
Five Year Report
2015