Publication No 2014-10 Annual Report Environment Southland’s achievements from July 2013 to June 2014 The Council and its officers are responsible for the preparation of this report. This report has been prepared in accordance with Part 3 of Schedule 10, Clause 34 of the Local Government Act 2002. The Council and management of Environment Southland confirm that all the statutory requirements in relation to the Annual Report have been complied with. This report was approved and adopted by a meeting of the Council on 22 October 2014. It correctly reflects the Council’s financial position and operating results for the year ended 30 June 2014 and complies with all statutory requirements in relation to the Annual Report. Ali Timms R A Phillips Chairman Chief Executive Contents Page 3 Council Directory 4-11 Annual Report Overview 12-14 Statement of Service Performance Activities for community reporting purposes – what you expected from us Groups of Activities 15-23 1. Addressing adverse effects of non-point source discharges to water from intensive farming practices. 24-28 2. Enablement of resource use by communities, industries and individuals. 29-44 3. Protection from the adverse environmental effects of resource use. 45-51 4. Emergency response and preparedness. 52-57 5. (a) Services 58-65 (b) Services – flood protection 66-71 6. Community representation and communication 72-74 Community Outcomes and Report on Progress 75-77 Report on Long-term Plan and Council policies 78-81 Transition from Resource Areas to Activities and Divisions 83-138 Financial Statements and Notes to the Accounts 139-147 Local Government (Financial Reporting and Prudence) Regulations 2014 148-152 Auditor’s Report 153 Equal Employment Opportunities 154 Health and Safety in the Workplace Page 2 Council Directory Chairman Ali Timms Bankers ANZ Banking Councillors to October 2013 Councillors from October 2013 Kelvin Street, Invercargill 9810 Ross Cockburn Ross Cockburn Neville Cook Neville Cook Auditor Rowly Currie Rowly Currie Deloitte on behalf of the Controller and Auditor General Robert Guyton Robert Guyton Wellington Nicol Horrell (Deputy Chairman) Nicol Horrell (Deputy Chairman) Grant Hubber Grant Hubber Solicitors Peter Jones Peter Jones AWS Legal Barry Slowley Brian Mason Lloyd McCallum Spey Street Spey Street Marion Miller Marion Miller Invercargill 9810 Invercargill 9810 Jan Riddell Jan Riddell Maurice Rodway Maurice Rodway Postal Address Environment Southland Executive Staff Private Bag 90116 Chief Executive Rob Phillips Invercargill 9840 Director of Operations & Environmental Warren Tuckey Information Phone (03) 211 5115 Director of Corporate Services Graham Alsweiler 0800 76 88 45 Director of Policy, Planning & Regulatory Vin Smith (from 9 December 2013) Fax (03) 211 5252 Services Divisional Managers E-mail Address [email protected] Policy and Planning Manager Ken Swinney (to 2 May 2014) Website www.es.govt.nz Acting Policy and Planning Manager Russell Hawkes (from 5 May 2014) (you can find reports referred to within this document on our website, or contact us and we will assist you) Environmental Information Manager John Prince Catchment Manager Noel Hinton Location Biosecurity Manager Richard Bowman Corner of Price Street & North Road Land & Water Services Manager Nikki Tarbutt (from 2 September 2013) Invercargill 9810 Compliance Manager Simon Mapp Consents Manager Stephen West Finance Manager Phil Culling Information Systems Manager Jane Carroll Communications & Stakeholder Engagement Gail Jefferies Manager Emergency Management Southland Manager Neil Cruickshank Page 3 Annual Report Overview Thank you for taking an interest in the Annual Report for 2013/14. It explains the progress on the projects and programmes the Council has committed to in the Long-term Plan 2012–2022 (LTP). The LTP, cast as “a Reality Check – More Must be Done”, is now through its second year with work streams having become increasingly integrated, and many well underway. Addressing water quality issues continued to be the Council’s top priority. Our Water and Land 2020 & Beyond project is both the Council’s response to the Government’s requirements in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS), and the community’s concerns about Southland’s declining water quality. The project, which is a joint initiative with Te Ao Marama Inc, has been informed by farming, environmental and community groups. Water and Land 2020 & Beyond takes a long-term perspective and draws together a range of inter-linked work programmes. It is a 3-stage project that will eventually lead to the NPS requirement of limit setting – determining how much water can be taken out of rivers and aquifers and what quantity of contaminants can be discharged into them, without jeopardising water quality goals. Significant progress has been made on the first stage of the Water and Land 2020 & Beyond project – focus activities. These activities focus on good management practices, specifically in the areas of nutrient management, riparian management, winter grazing, hill and high country development, and will also include on-site wastewater systems (e.g. septic tanks). Plan Change 13 (New Dairy Farming) and Plan Change 14 (Landfills and Contaminated Land) became operative as part of this first stage. The second stage is also underway with the integration of science and policy programmes and the development of the Water and Land Plan. This stage is aimed at working towards “holding the line” on water quality to prevent further decline. Decisions on policies for limit setting will need to be informed by sound economic, social, cultural advice and robust environmental science, which will require a great deal of monitoring and modelling work. A large body of work is underway with a range of stakeholders that lays the foundation for assessing economic impacts of these policy decisions. Environment Southland has a strong tradition of working with others and shared service arrangements to improve efficiencies, and the recent securing of relationships and funding with external economic and scientific partner organisations will be of substantial benefit to stage 3 of the project. Significant progress has been made with the proposed Regional Policy Statement (RPS) in the past year, with staff reports completed to support the hearing of submissions. The RPS was initially notified in 2012. A RPS is the region’s most significant planning tool and provides a high-level overview that sets resource management direction for all local authorities in the region. It doesn’t contain any rules, but sets up a framework for city, district and regional plans, which sit below it in the hierarchy of planning documents. The Compliance Division has implemented the review recommendations and built on its processes, investing in staff training and different methods for assessing and reinforcing consent conditions. Compliance staff use a range of techniques including aerial and on-farm inspections and the approach is seeing significant improvements in perception and relationship building. Particularly pleasing is the decrease in significant non-compliance by dairy farmers with discharge consents, down to 6% this year compared with 11% last year. Page 4 In the Consents Division, two new staff and an overall focus on ensuring processes are efficient and effective will help to address the increase in resource consent applications. A number of process improvements have also been instigated, which is leading to improved performance across the year. Work around air quality has been an important focus as part of our commitment to protecting people from adverse environmental effects. The review of the Regional Air Quality Plan for Southland continued with a particular focus on the urban airsheds of Invercargill and Gore. These airsheds have not been meeting the Government’s National Environmental Standards (NES) and home coal and wood burners are the primary cause. The NES allows for only one exceedance a year and Gore has until 2016 to achieve this, while Invercargill needs to be down to three or less by 2016, and one by 2020. The Breathe Easy public awareness campaign for the air plan review continued as the review progressed towards proposed new rules for home heating, outdoor burning, and fertiliser and agrichemical use, which were subsequently notified on 6 September 2014. The campaign included consultation with stakeholder organisations and groups, mail drops to households in the affected airsheds and advertising. As well, a webpage dedicated to air, www.BreatheEasySouthland.co.nz was established. Many other regional councils have already put rules in place for improving air quality and Environment Southland has been able to learn from their experiences. Southland’s first State of the Environment report on air was completed in partnership with Te Ao Marama Inc. It brings together the full range of available technical information and values-based material on the region’s air. It provides context to some of our air quality issues, will help with future decision-making, plus more. Southland’s Air /Ngā Hau o Murihiku has been designed to have wide appeal as a community publication. Air quality monitoring continued in Invercargill and Gore. Winton was added to the air monitoring programme, with weekly advertised results during winter in the Invercargill Eye and The Ensign newspapers. Seasonal monitoring of bathing sites and shellfish sites also continued. Biosecurity work is part of the Council’s core services; minimising animal