Regional Direction and Delivery

Committee

NOTICE IS GIVEN that the next meeting of the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee will be held in the Mauao Rooms, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Building, 87 First Avenue, Tauranga on:

Wednesday, 10 April 2019 commencing at 9.30 am.

Fiona McTavish Chief Executive 1 April 2019

Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Terms of Reference

The Regional Direction and Delivery Committee has a core function of policy formulation and implementation and monitoring of Regional Council strategy and policy. Delegated Function To set the strategic direction for the Region by formulating policy that clearly identifies Council’s role and direction on issues. This will be achieved through the development and approval of Council strategy and policy.

To set the operational direction for approved Regional Council policy and strategy and monitor how it is implemented. This will be achieved through the development of specific operational decisions which translate policy and strategy into action. Membership Chairman and all councillors. Quorum In accordance with Council standing order 10.2, the quorum at a meeting of the committee is not fewer than seven members of the committee. Term of the Committee For the period of the 2016-2019 Triennium unless discharged earlier by the Regional Council. Meeting frequency Six-weekly. Specific Responsibilities and Delegated Authority The Regional Direction and Delivery Committee is delegated the power of authority to:

• Approve and review statutory and non-statutory policy, plans and strategies for: . the management of resources in the region; . identifying and promoting community aspirations; . defining and delivering on Council’s roles;

• Approve and review operational policy and plans; • Develop and review bylaws; • Receive reporting on consenting, compliance and enforcement; • Receive reporting from state of the environment monitoring;

BOPRC ID: A2460611 Page 3 of 120 • Receive any annual reporting of organisational programmes; • Enter into contracts on matters within its Terms of Reference to a maximum value of $700,000 (excluding GST) for any one contract, subject to and within the allocation of funds set aside for that purpose in the Long Term Plan or Annual Plan or as otherwise specifically approved by Council; • Approve submissions on matters relating to the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee’s areas of responsibility that are not delegated to staff; • Establish subcommittees and hearing committees and delegate to them any authorities that have been delegated by Council to the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee, including those under section 34 of the Resource Management Act 1991, and to appoint members (not limited to members of the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee); • Delegate to hearings commissioners under section 34A of the Resource Management Act 1991 to exercise the powers, functions duties in relation to any authorities that have been delegated by Council to the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee; • Establish working groups to provide advice to the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee on its areas of responsibility.

Note:

• The Regional Direction and Delivery Committee reports directly to the Regional Council. • The Regional Direction and Delivery Committee is not delegated the power of authority to: . Approve the Regional Policy Statement and bylaws; . Review and adopt the Long Term Plan and Annual Plan; . Develop and review funding, financial, audit and risk policy and frameworks; . Approve Council submissions on Maori related matters except where submissions may have a wide impact on Council’s activities; . Develop, approve or review non statutory policy for the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes.

BOPRC ID: A2460611 Page 4 of 120 Public Forum

1. A period of up to 15 minutes may be set aside near the beginning of the meeting to enable members of the public to make statements about any matter on the agenda of that meeting which is open to the public, but excluding any matter on which comment could prejudice any specified statutory process the council is required to follow. 2. The time allowed for each speaker will normally be up to 5 minutes but will be up to the discretion of the chair. A maximum of 3 public participants will be allowed per meeting. 3. No statements by public participants to the Council shall be allowed unless a written, electronic or oral application has been received by the Chief Executive (Governance Team) by 12.00 noon of the working day prior to the meeting and the Chair’s approval has subsequently been obtained. The application shall include the following:
name of participant;

organisation represented (if any);

meeting at which they wish to participate; and matter on the agenda to be addressed.

4. Members of the meeting may put questions to any public participants, relevant to the matter being raised through the chair. Any questions must be asked and answered within the time period given to a public participant. The chair shall determine the number of questions.

Page 5 of 120

Page 6 of 120 Membership

Chairperson: P Thompson

Deputy Chairperson: A von Dadelszen

Councillors: N Bruning, W Clark, J Cronin, S Crosby, Chairman D Leeder, D Love, T Marr, M McDonald, J Nees, A Tahana, L Thurston, K Winters

Committee Advisor: S Kameta

Recommendations in reports are not to be construed as Council policy until adopted by Council. Agenda

1 Apologies 2 Public Forum 3 Acceptance of Late Items 4 General Business 5 Confidential Business to be Transferred into the Open 6 Declarations of Conflicts of Interests 7 Previous Minutes

7.1 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes - 19 February 2019 13 8 Presentations: Operating Environment

8.1 Regional Sector Update

Chairman Doug Leeder will provide an update.

8.2 LGNZ Update

Councillor Stuart Crosby will provide an update.

8.3 Ministry for the Environment Water Update

Coastal Catchments Manager Pim De Monchy will provide an update.

Page 7 of 120 9 Reports

9.1 Freshwater Futures Update 27

APPENDIX 1 - Rangitaiki Community Group Workshop 9 Agenda and Briefing Note 35

APPENDIX 2 - Kaituna Pongakawa Waitahanui Community Group Workshop 9 Agenda and Briefing Note 45

9.2 Climate Change Update 57

9.3 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update 67

APPENDIX 1 - Ambient air quality information for Mount Industrial Area 77

APPENDIX 2 - Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission modelling information 83

9.4 Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed 87

APPENDIX 1 - Draft Mount Maunganui Airshed 95

9.5 Re-adoption of the Pre-Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan 99

Please note: the below Supporting Documents will be provided electronically in Stellar Library and on Council’s website, with one printed copy made available at the meeting.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENT - Pre Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan (Amended) 103

SUPPORTING DOCUMENT - Pre Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan Maps 105

9.6 Integrated Catchment Management Update 107 10 Public Excluded Section 121

Resolution to exclude the public

THAT the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting.

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

General Subject of Matter to Reason for passing this Grounds under Section be Considered resolution in relation to this 48(1) LGOIMA 1987 for matter passing this resolution

10.1 Public Excluded To protect this information Good reason for Regional Direction and so it doesn’t damage public withholding exists under Delivery Committee Minutes interest. Section 48(1)(a). - 19 February 2019

10.2 Marae Wastewater Pilot To protect this information Good reason for Project so it doesn’t prejudice withholding exists under similar information. Section 48(1)(a).

Page 8 of 120 10.1 Public Excluded Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes - 19 February 2019 123

10.2 Marae Wastewater Pilot Project 125

APPENDIX 1 - Map of Marae included in Tauranga Moana Marae OSET Project - CONFIDENTIAL 131

11 Confidential Business to be Transferred into the Open 12 Readmit the Public 13 Consideration of General Business

Page 9 of 120

Page 10 of 120

Previous Minutes

Page 11 of 120

Page 12 of 120 Minutes of the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Meeting held in Mauao Rooms, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Building, 87 First Avenue, Tauranga on Tuesday, 19 February 2019 commencing at 9.35 a.m.

Present:

Chairman: P Thompson

Deputy Chairman: A von Dadelszen

Councillors: Chairman D Leeder, T Marr, D Love, N Bruning, J Nees, W Clark, S Crosby, K Winters, M McDonald

In Attendance: BOPRC: C Ingle (General Manager, Integrated Catchments); F McTavish (Chief Executive); S Omundsen (General Manager, Regulatory Services); E Grogan (Principal Advisor, Regulatory Services); D Phizacklea (Regional Integrated Planning Manager); S Lamb (Natural Resources Policy Manager); A Miller (Compliance Manager – Primary Industry & Enforcement); S Mellor (Compliance Manager – Urban, Industry, and Response); G Corbett (Biosecurity Manager); A Bruere (Lakes Operations Manager); Y Tatton (Governance Manager); J Low (Water Policy Team Leader); N Steed (Programme Leader, Statutory Policy); K Parcell (Senior Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Policy); G Kroon (Senior Policy Analyst, Water Policy); R Irving (Senior Regulatory Project Officer); S Bermeo (Senior Planner); M Ivamy (Natural Hazards Advisor); J Newlands (Senior Regulatory Compliance Officer); J Durham (Committee Advisor)

External: C Battershill (Chair in Coastal Science, Waikato University); T Baisden (Chair in Lake and Freshwater Science, Waikato University); B Clarkson (Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Waikato University); K Summerhays (Consultant, People and Place)

Apologies: A Tahana, L Thurston, J Cronin

1 Apologies

Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Accepts the apologies from Cr McDonald for lateness, and Crs A Tahana, L Thurston, and J Cronin tendered at the meeting.

Thompson/von Dadelszen CARRIED

Page 13 of 120

DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 1 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019

2 Public Forum

Nil.

3 Acceptance of Late Items

Nil.

4 General Business

Nil.

5 Confidential Business to be transferred into the Open

Nil.

6 Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

Nil.

7 Previous Minutes

7.1 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes - 11 December 2018

Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Confirms the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes - 11 December 2018 as a true and correct record.

Thompson/von Dadelszen CARRIED

8 Reports

8.1 Annual Reports from the University of Waikato Science Chairs

Presentation: Objective IDs A3137589 and A3138726.

Chris Battershill (Chair in Coastal Science), Troy Baisden (Chair in Lake and Freshwater Science) and Bruce Clarkson (Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research) of Waikato University provided a presentation, summarised the background to their research and outlined steps going forward.

9.46am – Cr McDonald joined the meeting.

Key points included:

 Mapping of research across the country was undertaken in order to identify gaps and avoid duplication.  The Intercoast Programme had been successful and similar international programmes were under investigation. Page 14 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 2 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019

 The Oranga Taiao Oranga Tangata: Integrated Spatial Planning Tool would be available from 2020. It was a fully integrated tool which would overlay various ecological, economical, and cultural values to then be interrogated for different effects and outcomes in order to inform Council planning. Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Annual Reports from the University of Waikato Science Chairs.

Thompson/Love CARRIED Chair’s Announcement

Agenda Item 8.4, Plan Change 10 Science Review would be considered next.

10.54am – the meeting adjourned. 11.18am – the meeting reconvened.

8.2 Plan Change 10 Science Review

Presentation: Objective IDs A3134378, zA244358 and zA244359.

Tabled Document 1, Summary Report

Andy Bruere (Lakes Operations Manager) sought approval for the release of the Plan Change 10 (PC10) Science Review (Review) to the public.

Key points included:

 The Review was scientifically robust and peer reviewed.  The public might want to discuss the Review’s recommendations.  There were no apparent inconsistencies between the Review and PC10.  In-lake remediation methods referred to aeration and stratification, not alum dosing.

Staff follow-up:

 A report linking the Review to PC10 and considering if any aspects of PC10 should be reviewed accordingly to be presented at a further meeting. Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Plan Change 10 Science Review.

Thompson/Nees CARRIED

Page 15 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 3 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019

8.3 The Regional Waste and Resource Efficiency Strategy. An Independent Review of Strategy Implementation and Effectiveness.

Presentation: Objective ID A3137604.

Reece Irving (Senior Regulatory Project Officer), Sarah Omundsen (General Manager, Regulatory Services), and Karen Summerhays (Consultant, People and Place) set out the background of the review.

Key points included:

 Council did not have legislative mandate for waste management.  The Waste Resources Advisory Group (WRAG) felt it was best used to advise strategic direction, and that needed reviewing.  WRAG sought to broaden their membership and encourage collaboration.  WRAG advocated regional and cross-regional solutions.  The $50,000 competitive fund was too small for a regional scale, but provided effective results for the cost.  Suggested the fund be administered through the Environment Enhancement Fund, with more support to increase application quality.

Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, The Regional Waste and Resource Efficiency Strategy. An Independent Review of Strategy Implementation and Effectiveness.

2 Staff to report back on the current strategy and implementation of the strategy, including consideration of budget implications. This will involve a collaborative way of working including Territorial Authorities and other stakeholders.

Thompson/Love CARRIED

8.4 Overview of Wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region in 2018

Jess Newlands (Senior Regulatory Compliance Officer), Alex Miller (Compliance Manager – Primary Industry & Enforcement), and Sarah Omundsen (General Manager, Regulatory Services) responded to questions.

Key points included:

 Concern that Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) were not budgeting to meet the cost of infrastructure requirements when their consents lapsed in 2026.  The government’s Three Waters Review would be released in tranches, with drinking water the focus for August 2019 and others to follow in 2020.  Staff needed support to drive conversations with TLAs regarding necessary infrastructure and its inclusion in current Long Term Plan (LTP) budgets.

Page 16 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 4 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019 Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Overview of Wastewater in the Bay of Plenty Region in 2018.

Leeder/Thompson CARRIED

8.5 Update on Appeals to Region-wide Water Quantity Proposed Plan Change 9

Glenys Kroon (Senior Policy Analyst, Water Policy) and James Low (Water Policy Team Leader) sought a decision on whether a Plan Change 9 Appeals Subcommittee should be established.

Points Raised by Members:

 Delegation to staff was unclear.  Establishing a Plan Change 9 Appeals Subcommittee would be appropriate in order to decide major appeal points, provide political oversight and mitigate the pressure on staff.

Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Update on Appeals to Region-wide Water Quantity Proposed Plan Change 9.

2 Establish a Region-wide Water Quantity Proposed Plan Change 9 Appeals Subcommittee comprising Cr Nees, Cr Thompson, Cr McDonald and Cr von Dadelszen and be given delegated authority to mediate and resolve the Environment Court appeals on Proposed Plan Change 9.

Thompson/Crosby CARRIED Chair’s Announcement

Agenda Items 8.6, Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) - Hearing Panel Recommendations, and 8.7, Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update to follow Agenda Item 8.11, Freshwater Futures Update.

8.6 Inter-Regional Marine Pest Pathway Management Plan Discussion Document and Engagement Plan

Greg Corbett (Biosecurity Manager) confirmed the Inter-Regional Marine Pest Pathway Management Plan related only to sea water and noted the amendment to address additional costs for some councils.

Page 17 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 5 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019 Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Inter-Regional Marine Pest Pathway Management Plan Discussion Document and Engagement Plan.

2 Approves ‘Better ways to stop marine pests?’, a discussion document on inter-regional marine pests pathway management, to be released for consultation.

3 Delegates Top of North Marine Biosecurity Partnership Chair the authority to approve any minor changes, including grammatical and formatting, to the Discussion Document prior to its release for consultation.

Nees/Love CARRIED

8.7 Proposed Trial for Contract Wallaby Control

12.54pm - Cr Thompson vacated the Chair and left the meeting. 12.54pm – Cr von Dadelszen assumed the Chair.

Greg Corbett (Biosecurity Manager) confirmed there would be no increase in administrative costs in order to implement the proposal and funds within the current budget would be used for contractors.

1.02pm - Cr Thompson joined the meeting. 1.02pm – Cr von Dadelszen vacated the Chair and Cr Thompson resumed the Chair.

Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Proposed Trial for Contract Wallaby Control.

2 Notes that an initial trial for contract wallaby control can be funded through the Integrated Catchments Activity.

3 Approves an initial trial for controlling wallabies.

4 Directs staff to report back on the trial with recommendations for any future application of the approach.

Nees/Leeder CARRIED

1.02pm – the meeting adjourned. 1.33pm – the meeting reconvened.

8.8 Resource Management Act Plan Changes: Work Programme

David Phizacklea (Regional Integrated Planning Manager) confirmed staff sought to align plan change processes.

Page 18 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 6 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019 Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Resource Management Act Plan Changes: Work Programme.

2 Notes that the attached schedule ‘Regional Plan Changes Schedule’ is a living schedule and will be regularly updated to reflect the progress of a plan change or Council decisions as a result of changes in policy direction, national direction or resource availability.

Thompson/Nees CARRIED

8.9 Freshwater Futures Update

Presentation: Objective ID A3134755.

Santiago Bermeo (Senior Planner), James Low (Water Policy Team Leader) and David Phizacklea (Regional Integrated Planning Manager) provided an update on freshwater work underway.

Key points included:

 It was a staff priority to improve the robustness of freshwater data to inform planning and consenting processes.  A recent study showed growth in freshwater demand would generally be able to be provided for within limits established under Plan Change 9 without large scale irrigation infrastructure (provided growth was primarily from horticulture development and consents were based on reasonable use). The study also highlighted opportunities for small scale/local infrastructure and more flexible allocation practices. Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Freshwater Futures Update.

2 Notes Appendix One which, as requested, provides an update on the various Rotorua lakeside community meetings over the 2018-2019 summer.

Thompson/von Dadelszen CARRIED

8.10 Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) - Hearing Panel Recommendations

Presentation: Objective ID A3137044.

Karen Parcell (Senior Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Policy), Stephen Lamb (Natural Resources Policy Manager), and Andrew von Dadelszen (Chair, Plan Change 13 Hearing Panel) outlined the Panel’s recommendations.

Page 19 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 7 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Key points included:

 Council’s science was more current and robust than the Environment Protection Authority’s (EPA) when the rates were set in 2010.  Staff were confident the EPA’s reassessment process would reach the same conclusion.  Ministry for the Environment (MFE) had approached Council, Port of Tauranga Limited, and Genera Limited to compile advice for the EPA regarding recapture rates.

Points raised by Members:

 Concern with effectively communicating to the public what the methyl bromide recapture rates meant and why 100% recapture was impossible.

Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) - Hearing Panel Recommendations.

2 Receives the report and recommendations of the Hearing Panel on Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) to the Bay of Plenty Regional Natural Resources Plan as set out in the attached document “Report and Recommendations of the Hearing Panel” and its appendices A to C.

3 Accepts the recommendations of the Hearing Panel on Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) to the Bay of Plenty Regional Natural Resources Plan as set out in the supporting document “Report and Recommendations of the Hearing Committee” and its appendices A to C as Council’s decisions on submissions on Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) under clause 10(1) of Schedule 1 to the Resource Management Act 1991.

4 Approves public notification of its decisions on submissions on Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) to the Bay of Plenty Regional Natural Resources Plan in accordance with clauses 10 and 11 of Schedule 1 to the Resource Management Act 1991.

5 Notes that the requirements of 32AA(1)(d)(ii) of the Resource Management Act 1991 are fulfilled by Appendix C of the Hearing Panel report.

6 Notes that on and from the date the decisions are publicly notified, Proposed Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) to the Bay of Plenty Regional Natural Resources Plan is amended in accordance with the decisions.

7 Approve the additional amendments to the supporting document “Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) Report and Recommendations of the Hearing Committee” and its appendices A to C as outlined in Attachment 1.

Love/Bruning CARRIED

Page 20 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 8 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019

8 Staff address the communication issues discussed at the meeting with advice to follow as to how best it be managed.

Thompson/Crosby CARRIED

2.54pm – Cr Clark left the meeting.

8.11 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

Presentation: Objective ID zA244736.

Reece Irving (Senior Regulatory Project Officer), Stephen Mellor (Compliance Manager – Urban, Industry, and Response), Eddie Grogan (Principle Advisor, Regulatory Services), and Sarah Omundsen (General Manager, Regulatory Services) highlighted key points from the report.

Key points included:

 Staff were working with several agencies regarding Aerodrome Road.  Toi Te Ora’s and WorkSafe’s responsibilities and accountability regarding Aerodrome Road needed clarifying.  Sources of non-compliance could be unclear due to several factors such as; wind direction, varying particles from a number of sites, and a qualitative as well as quantitative analysis being needed.  When a cause of breach was clear, enforcement action was undertaken.

3.07pm – Cr Clark joined the meeting.

Staff follow-up:

 Staff to present a Communication and Engagement Plan on the issue at a further meeting.

Resolved

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update.

Thompson/Bruning CARRIED

9 Public Excluded Section

Resolved

THAT the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting.

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

Page 21 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 9 Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Minutes Tuesday, 19 February 2019

General Subject of Matter to be Reason for passing this Grounds under Section Considered resolution in relation to 48(1) LGOIMA 1987 for this matter passing this resolution

9.1 Public Excluded Regional Good reason for Refer to the relevant Direction and Delivery withholding exists section of the open Committee Minutes - 11 under Section 48(1)(a) meeting minutes December 2018

9.2 Tauranga Harbour Coastal Good reason for To protect this information Hazards Study withholding exists so it doesn’t damage under Section 48(1)(a) public interest

Thompson/Nees CARRIED

10 Consideration of General Business

Nil.

The meeting closed at 3.26pm.

TO BE CONFIRMED 10 APRIL 2019: ______Chairperson

Page 22 of 120

A3132694 DRAFT MINUTES TO BE CONFIRMED 10

Presentations: Operating Environment

Page 23 of 120

Page 24 of 120

Reports

Page 25 of 120

Page 26 of 120

Receives Only – No Decisions

Report To: Regional Direction and Delivery Committee

Meeting Date: 10 April 2019

Report From: James Low, Team Leader Policy (Freshwater)

Freshwater Futures Update

Executive Summary

This report provides an update on policy work being undertaken to implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM), relevant national policy direction and other Freshwater Future programme work.

Key updates since the last Committee meeting include:

 Government’s Essential Freshwater and Three Waters policy programmes are likely to be released in July/August 2019 as proposed discussion documents.

 Pre-mediation meetings have been held with all appellants of Proposed Plan Change 9 – Region-wide Water Quantity. An appeals sub-committee has been formed and had its first meeting. Multi-party mediation meetings are underway.

 Rangitāiki, and Kaituna-Pongakawa-Waitahanui Freshwater Futures Community Group workshops were held on 20 and 26 March respectively. The Rangitāiki Community Group considered groundwater management issues and options. The Kaituna-Pongakawa-Waitahanui Community Groups considered surface water quality and identifying management options to reduce nutrient loads to Waihī and Maketū estuaries.

 The Plan Change 10 hearing is currently adjourned and an interim decision on Stage 1 will be made by the Environment Court in due course. No date for the stage 2 Hearing has been set.

 Baseline work is largely complete for the Tauranga and Rotorua Water Management Areas.

 The Rangitāiki River Forum has had one freshwater workshop and will hold another in May focussed specifically on freshwater management and Plan Change 12.

Recommendations

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Freshwater Futures Update.

Page 27 of 120 Freshwater Futures Update

1 Purpose

This report provides an update on work underway to improve management of freshwater resources in the Bay of Plenty region. It also provides an update on freshwater policy matters at a national level. 2 National Updates

2.1 Essential Fresh Water

Central government has a large freshwater policy review programme called Essential Freshwater, focussed on:

 Stopping degradation and loss of freshwater resources, waterways and ecosystems;  Reversing past damage to freshwater resources waterways and ecosystems; and  Addressing allocation issues. The work is being delivered by a task force, including seconded staff from Regional Councils, with advice and direction from a Freshwater Leaders Group, Science and Technical Advisory Group, Regional Council CE’s sub-group, and Kahui Wai Māori. Staff continue to provide input where the opportunity arises. Draft policies will be released for public feedback in approximately July/August 2019.

2.2 Three Waters Review

Government’s Three Waters review is running in parallel with Essential Freshwater, with a view to changing regulations for drinking water, wastewater and, later, changes to service delivery and economic regulation.

Central government has sent two surveys to regional councils recently. The first sought wastewater consents and compliance information. The current request seeks stormwater discharge consents, compliance and policy information.

Staff attended a workshop in Rotorua on 28 March 2019 about emerging regulatory reform proposals for 3 Waters. Meeting briefing notes have not been provided at the time of writing this agenda report. A summary can be provided at the Regional Direction and Development Committee (RDD) meeting. 3 Plans and Plan Changes

Council is actively working on several freshwater plan changes to the operative Regional Natural Resources Plan. Updates are provided below.

3.1 Region-wide Water Quantity - Proposed Plan Change 9

At the February RDD meeting an appeals sub-committee, consisting of Councillors Nees, Thompson, von Dadelszen and McDonald was elected. A preliminary workshop with the sub-committee was held, with Councillor Nees being elected chairperson and Councillor Thompson as the deputy.

2 Page 28 of 120 Freshwater Futures Update

Staff provided the sub-committee with a brief summary of appeals and progress to date. The sub-committee indicated a desire to actively participate in the appeals process and asked that staff bring proposed changes to them for discussion.

Staff have met with all appellants.

The first multi-party pre-mediation meeting (Group 1 – Iwi matters) was held on 18 March. Matters discussed included how best to provide for partnership, Te Mana o Te Wai and giving effect to the NPSFM. Staff agreed to support developing draft amendments to Plan Change 9 to give effect to reliefs requested. A number of principles have been agreed and will be used to assess the suitability of the proposed amendments. These will be passed by the appeals sub-committee for consideration

Staff are required to file a comprehensive memorandum with the Environment Court by 10 May 2019. At this stage that memorandum is likely to note progress towards resolving some matters, pending agreement of proposed amendments by the sub- committee prior to formal (court assisted) mediation.

As noted in the February RDD meeting, staff will keep the RDD committee informed of progress via these Freshwater Futures updates.

3.2 Lake Rotorua Nutrient Management - Proposed Plan Change 10

The Environment Court Hearing on Proposed Plan Change 10 started on 4 March 2019. The Hearing has been divided into two stages:

1. The substantive matter of allocation 2. More minor implementation issues. The first stage of the Hearing (Allocation) ran for one week. A number of appellants had sought a different allocation framework and evidence was provided on the likely impacts of the two alternative allocations (a sector ranges allocation versus a Land Use Capability allocation) and the comparative costs and benefits.

It was expected that more time would be required for the Stage 1 hearing; however the cross examination and Court questions were very focussed on allocation. Limited questions were asked about the underpinning science with questioning instead focussed on economic and planning matters. Cross examination was also limited by the fact that the relevant issues were quickly in front of the Court and these did not need to be traversed at length.

The submission dates for legal closing arguments were Natural Capital Group as appellants 13th March 2019 and Regional Council as respondent 22nd March 2019. The Hearing is currently adjourned and an interim decision on Stage 1 will be made by the Environment Court in due course. No date for the stage 2 Hearing has been set.

3.3 Plan Change 12: Kaituna/Pongakawa/Waitahanui and Rangitāiki Water Management Areas

The purpose of this work is to deliver freshwater objectives based on freshwater values, and to set appropriate water quality and quantity limits and methods. This will ultimately be achieved by way of a change to the Regional Natural Resources Plan (RNRP Plan Change 12).

3 Page 29 of 120 Freshwater Futures Update

Science and information gathering is largely complete, and solution building is underway, in discussion with community groups, co-governance fora, iwi and hapū.

Figure 1: Current timeline for Plan Change 12 planning process.

Pending changes to national freshwater policy and regulations will have implications for this work. Staff will maintain a watching brief on central government’s Essential Freshwater Programme, and will not advance formal plan change processes until national changes are announced and can be appropriately accommodated.

The current work plan anticipates having a draft plan change prepared at the end of 2019 - though this is subject to several assumptions, including that changes to the NPSFM are relatively minor.

Rangitāiki Water Management Area

Rangitāiki groundwater management options were discussed with the Rangitāiki Community Group on 20 March. The meeting had not been held at the time of writing this agenda report. The meeting briefing note is attached (Appendix 1). Rangitāiki River Forum members were invited to attend this workshop.

This workshop will be followed by a water quality management workshop (in April/May) and then a surface water quantity management workshop (May/June).

Kaituna-Pongakawa-Waitahanui Water Management Area

RDD received agenda reports at their 19 February 2019 on two key technical reports:

 Reducing contaminant loads to Waihī and Maketū estuaries; and

 Lowland Drainage Scheme water quality and ecology.

As noted at that meeting, contaminant loads need to be greatly reduced to support moderate ecological health in the estuaries and to increase the amount of time shellfish are safe to harvest. This will require significant changes in the catchment.

The technical reports were discussed on 26 March by the Kaituna, Pongakawa and Waitahanui WMA community groups, along with initial discussions about potential policy options. The meeting had not been held at the time of writing this agenda report.

4 Page 30 of 120 Freshwater Futures Update

The meeting briefing note is attached (Appendix 2). Policy options being considered to “hold the line” include:

1. Good management practice requirements such as Farm/Orchard Environmental Plans and standards. 2. Preventing change of land use to more intensive uses, and preventing intensification of existing land uses (e.g., prevent increases in stocking rates, or conversion of forest to pastoral or orchard uses) if it will cause more nitrogen and phosphorus losses, unless this can be remedied or mitigated. 3. Stronger water quality requirements for discharges, including industrial, commercial, wastewater, land drainage and other point source discharges. Staff will release some public communication material about the issues and potential policy options being considered, to raise awareness in the first instance, and also to assure local land owners that they will get an opportunity to comment before any plan change is notified.

Staff are now progressing modelling to estimate the water quality improvements that might be achieved if all land users applied good practice.

Engagement with iwi

Staff have held meetings with representatives of many of the iwi with rohe in Rangitāiki and Kaituna-Pongakawa-Waitahanui Water Management Areas. However, staff still need to meet for the first time with some iwi, and need to hold further discussions with each. Staff are summarising what we have heard to date, and will need to check it with the iwi we have spoken to before circulating this to Community Group members.

3.4 Rotorua (Plan Change 15) and Tauranga (Plan Change 16)

Rotorua

The baseline stocktake for PC15 has been completed to a draft stage. Preliminary meetings to consider information gaps and requirements (if any) for further modelling have occurred. Our preliminary assessment is that the main gap is our limited understanding of non-Rotorua streams, which we anticipate requiring further work to round out the otherwise good state of knowledge. A small contract has been let for consultants to investigate and report back on the key stormwater contaminant loads

Tauranga

The baseline stocktake for Tauranga Moana is near-complete. A positive working relationship with Tauranga Moana Iwi has been established and a work plan to document their values and interests and cultural flow requirements is in development. Initial discussions with Waikato University have highlighted the possibility of using their harbour model to support our freshwater policy work. Further consideration is required before any decision can be made.

4 Co-Governance Forum Updates

In addition to the plan change work noted above Council is working with Te Maru o Kaituna River Authority (TMoK) and the Rangitāiki River Forum. Both forums receive regular updates on Council’s Freshwater policy work programme. Council will continue

5 Page 31 of 120 Freshwater Futures Update

to seek co-governance advice/feedback as to whether and how our work aligns with the objectives of their river documents.

4.1 Te Maru o Kaituna River Authority

Te Maru o Kaituna River Authority (TMoK) is progressing development of their Kaituna River Action Plan which is expected to be completed by July 2019. The action plan will be comprised of priority projects that contribute to meeting the objectives of the river document.

4.2 Rangitāiki River Forum

The Rangitāiki River Forum held a freshwater workshop on 21 February. The Forum welcomed new representatives for Ngāti Tūwharetoa (BOP) Settlement Trust – Paora Hunia and Clifford Te Riini (Alternate), and later Whakatāne District Council – Councillor Alison Silcock (Alternate).

In the Freshwater workshop, members:  explained what Te Mana o te Wai means to them.  received staff presentations on Rangitāiki Freshwater Community Group discussions to date (focussed on freshwater values, science monitoring and modelling information).  provided ideas about incorporating mātauranga (knowledge) in freshwater management.

Te Mana o te Wai was extremely important to members who found strong parallels with the purpose and vision of the Forum. Members urged that the resource management framework should enshrine Te Mana o te Wai. Members advised that incorporating Mātauranga Māori in freshwater management would help better provide for Te Mana o te Wai.

The next Forum freshwater workshop will be held on 21 May 2019, and the Forum will discuss:  the upcoming project timeline for Plan Change 12  matters in discussion with the Rangitāiki Freshwater Futures Community Group.

The Forum meeting is scheduled for 7 June 2019. 5 Advice

Council convenes the Regional Water Advisory Panel and Territorial Local Authority Freshwater Collaboration Group to advice on Council’s Freshwater Futures Programme. March meetings were postponed. The next Regional Water Advisory Panel meeting will be held in May. 6 Implications for Māori

Freshwater management is a key interest for Māori. Part D of the NPSFM requires council to involve tangata whenua in the management of freshwater resources. Additionally, Council must recognise and provide for the relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and other taonga (section 6(e), Resource Management Act 1991).

6 Page 32 of 120 Freshwater Futures Update

Engagement and analysis for Plan Change 12, appeals on Plan Change 9, and feedback from co-governance fora confirm the high value placed on freshwater by tangata whenua, and their substantial concerns about water quality. The importance of freshwater to tangata whenua is a key consideration in our ongoing work.

7 Budget Implications

7.1 Current Budget Implications

Council’s Freshwater Futures work is being delivered within the current budget for the activities in Year 1 of the Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

7.2 Future Budget Implications

Future work is provided for in Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

Any additional work for Bay of Plenty Regional Council resulting from national direction will need to be considered as to future budget implications. 8 Community Outcomes

This item/project directly contributes to the following community outcomes in the Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028: A Healthy Environment, Freshwater for Life, Safe and Resilient Communities, particularly Freshwater for Life.

Nicola Green Senior Planner (Water Policy) for Team Leader Policy (Freshwater)

1 April 2019 Click here to enter text.

7 Page 33 of 120

Page 34 of 120

APPENDIX 1

Rangitaiki Community Group Workshop 9 Agenda and Briefing Note

Page 35 of 120

Page 36 of 120 Rangitaiki Freshwater Futures Community Group Workshop Agenda Wednesday 20th March 2019

Co-Chairs: Larry Wetting and Alamoti Te Pou Members: Alan Law, Atamira Nuku, Bill Kerrison, Councillor Bill Clark, Cathy Brown, Christina Bunny, Colin Maunder, Craig Rowe, Earl Rewi, George Johnston, James Doherty, John Gibson, Kerry Snowdon, Kirsty Joynt, Linda Conning, Mark Ross, Matt Gow, Matt Osborne, Ngapera Rangiaho, Nick Doney, Nicholas Woodley, Steve Brightwell, Tom Lynch Rangitāiki River Forum members Invited attendees: Nicki Green, Andrew Millar, Michelle Lee (Water Policy), Nancy Willems BOPRC Staff: (Eastern Catchments), Raoul Fernandes(Scientist), Kerry Gosling (Facilitator), Stephanie Macdonald, Edward Sykes (Support Facilitators), Sue Simpson Administrator: Galatea Hall, Mangamate Road, Galatea Venue: 9.00am – 3.00pm Time: Join us for a cup of tea catch up 8.30am Welcome and introductions 9.00am Purpose National and regional updates Groundwater basics - Recap about the Rangitāiki groundwater system Groundwater values, uses and objectives – Check and confirm

Morning Tea 10.30am (Approx) Current allocation of water and potential future demand 10:45am Lunch 12.30pm (Approx) Clarify groundwater management issues 1.00pm Management options discussion Group recommendations Next Steps

Close 3.00pm

Page 37 of 120 BRIEFING NOTE

To: Freshwater Futures: Rangitāiki Community Group

From: Nicki Green and Andrew Millar, Senior Date: 5 March 2019 Planners, Water Policy

Subject: Workshop 9: Groundwater Quantity 20 March 2019, Galatea Hall

1 Meeting Overview 1.1 Purpose The focus of this workshop is on future groundwater quantity management in Rangitāiki Water Management Area (WMA). This includes: • confirming values and objectives • clarifying issues we need to resolve • exploring options to address the issues • potentially forming recommendations.

1.2 Outcomes sought Group members: 1. Have a common understanding of groundwater systems in Rangitāiki WMA, including what we do and don’t know about these. 2. Understand how groundwater is currently allocated. 3. Confirm groundwater values and objectives when managing groundwater and groundwater use. 4. Clarify and agree issues associated with groundwater management in Rangitāiki WMA. 5. Explore options to address the issues together from various perspectives, and give feedback on these. Council staff will have a clear understanding of the issues of concern for group members and any preferences/feedback about options. This will influence how staff form up discussion documents for the wider community and policy options assessments, (e.g., water allocation limits) for Plan Change 12. Results of this workshop will be reported to Councillors and the Rangitāiki River Forum.

The meeting agenda is attached and each item is outlined below. For a bit more depth, re-read the fact sheet ‘Introduction to Groundwater Environmental Level Setting’ (https://www.boprc.govt.nz/media/796400/2018-03-28-rangitaiki-groundwater-limits_info-sheet.pdf) – this was circulated for workshop 7, although the allocation tables have been updated with more recent and correct data.

Page 38 of 120 1

1.3 Proposed Plan Change 9: Region-wide Water Quantity Proposed Plan Change 9 (PC9) sets region-wide objectives, policies and rules for groundwater management, including setting management zones and allocation limits. PC9 is the subject of Environment Court appeals and therefore may change.

The work we will do in this workshop may lead us towards either confirming that the region-wide provisions are appropriate for Rangitāiki, or that SOME, but not all of the region-wide provisions should be replaced with Rangitāiki specific provisions.

This creates some complexity and sensitivities which we will have to carefully navigate during the workshop. We will not be able to discuss or resolve matters that are subject to Environment Court appeals.

1.4 Rangitāiki River Forum members Following a freshwater workshop with the Rangitāiki River Forum, members of the Forum have been invited to join community group workshops, acknowledging some are already members of the group. The Forum wishes to form its view with the benefit of the information and discussions shared in the group.

2 Groundwater in Rangitāiki 2.1 Geology and groundwater beneath us We will spend some time presenting about basic rock/geological layers beneath the Rangitāiki WMA, and the water resources they hold. We’ll note some of their properties like unconfined verses confined, connected to rivers and not. We’ll also note what we don’t know about the groundwater system. We have covered this before, but were rushed, so this will be a recap and chance to ask questions.

Think about: Take a look at the diagrams below. Bring any questions you have about them to the workshop. Aim to feel comfortable enough to explain them to the neighbour over the fence after the workshop because these are foundations for the rest of the discussion.

Page 39 of 120

Figure 1 Groundwater movement in an aquifer (confined and unconfined parts of the aquifer are in blue)

Figure 2 Three dimensional diagram of the Rangitāiki Plains geological units and faults

2.2 How much groundwater is there? The fact sheet ‘Introduction to Groundwater Environmental Level Setting’ explains that at the moment (and for the next 5 years or so) we have to rely on a groundwater “mass balance” approach to estimating how much water is in the groundwater system. That is, Page 40 of 120 we broadly estimate how much water goes in to the ground (rainfall minus run-off and evapotranspiration) and how much comes out (base-flow to streams) to figure out how much is in the ground and potentially available for use. There’s plenty we don’t know for sure, and we won’t know more for several years. We will talk through this with you, because it influences what sort of allocation limits we can set.

3 Values, uses and objectives 3.1 Values and uses of groundwater Groundwater has many values and uses including: • providing base-flow to springs, rivers and wetlands; • providing a water resource for use, e.g., for human and stock drinking water, irrigation, dairy shed wash-down, and other industrial/commercial uses; • groundwater head/pressure dictates where the salt water/freshwater interface is near the coast and so affects coastal groundwater quality; • mauri1.

We will discuss what we do and don’t know about these values and uses in Rangitāiki WMA, and implications for groundwater management.

Think about: Are there other values and uses of groundwater that are particularly important to you that are not included above? Are the values and uses above important to you?

3.2 Objectives There are objectives in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and in the Regional Policy Statement relating specifically to groundwater quantity – our work in Rangitāiki (Plan Change 12) must give effect to these. There are also region-wide objectives in Proposed Plan Change 9 that will apply to Rangitāiki WMA, unless superseded by Rangitāiki specific objectives in Plan Change 12.

For simplicity, here is a summary of general objectives that support values and uses: • Use of groundwater does not result in a sustained decline in groundwater levels. • Use of groundwater does not permanently/unsustainably lower base-flow in rivers, or spring flows or wetlands. • Groundwater use does not adversely affect groundwater quality, including causing saline intrusion. • The mauri of groundwater is sustained. • Groundwater is available for use, subject to the above objectives being achieved (by setting appropriate allocation limits, levels, and consent conditions).

Later in the workshop we may also discuss objectives/principles about how water is allocated to users.

Think about: Do the above objectives seem appropriate to you? Are there other objectives that are particularly important to you?

1 Mauri is defined in the RPS: The essential life force, energy or principle that tangata whenua believe exists in all things in the natural world, including people …. [continues] Page 41 of 120 4 Allocation of Groundwater 4.1 Current Allocation Limits Groundwater allocation limits are currently set by Proposed Plan Change 9 and explained in the fact sheet (link provided above). Groundwater availability and consented allocation for groundwater in management zones in Rangitāiki Water Management Area, can be seen using the BOPRC Groundwater allocation map tool. (https://boprc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=7a2ff1e0b0454bdb89498f0e019a23dd) The tool: • shows the current allocation limit • includes maps and information that show how much groundwater is allocated via resource consents for each groundwater management zone (this changes when new consents are granted and existing consents expire or are replaced) • shows remaining allocation for each management zone. A table showing current allocation limits, consented allocation and remaining allocation for each groundwater management zone in Rangitāiki Water Management Area is attached. We will look more closely at where there is and isn’t water available at this workshop. Note that even if groundwater resource is available, we cannot issue a consent to use it if it will mean existing consented users can’t fully exercise their consented use. For example, if a proposed groundwater take is very close to an existing one it might have a localised effect on the existing user, or if groundwater is connected to surface water a new groundwater take might affect surface water takes. 4.2 Current and future demand We need a clear sense of whether (and where) water constraint is a real issue in Rangitāiki WMA now and in the future. At the end of last year some of you joined a discussion about work being done by Aqualinc Research on freshwater-related opportunities and barriers for economic growth. Aqualinc Research produced a final report which is available on our website (https://www.boprc.govt.nz/media/796356/fresh-water-constraints-to-economic-development-final- hires.pdf). A key conclusion is that the foreseeable increase in freshwater demand (mainly from horticulture development) would generally be able to be provided for within current interim freshwater allocation limits across the region, (although there are some localised exceptions). This assumes that all irrigation and frost protection consents are based on reasonable use. For the Rangitāiki Water Management Area, “future demand” was based on one of the future land use scenarios tested in our catchment model (and discussed at workshop 7). We will present some of the information for Rangitāiki Water Management Area and discuss what you think.

5 Groundwater Management Issues in Rangitāiki Based on all of the discussions above, we think you will raise several issues and concerns; we have also identified some. In this section of the workshop, we will clarify the issues/concerns you have about groundwater quantity management. In the next part of the workshop we will start to look at options to address them. Some issues are not within our ability to address, e.g., first in first served. Some big issues we have identified are: • Limited information about: Page 42 of 120 • effects of water use on the groundwater resource, springs and wetlands; • groundwater, surface water interaction … we assume they are connected. • Potential for land use change IF water can be made available. • Potentially available groundwater cannot be allocated above Matahina if connected to surface water.

Think about: What are the big issues of concern to you?

6 Options to address the issues We will start to explore options, from the different perspectives of different parties. These may include to: • Improve information: • collect seasonal groundwater level changes over a number of years (inform model); • collect water use data over a number of years to determine actual water use (inform model); • Improve spring / wetland mapping and collect flow monitoring data. • Review allocation limits when computer based groundwater modelling results are available in 3-5 years. • Increase / change allocation limits now. • Review existing groundwater take consents – improve allocation efficiency. • Share water - consider any possible, mutually beneficial solutions for managing the available and allocated groundwater resource. • Review management zones - Potential to re-distribute the volume of water available for allocation over a wider area in some places.

Think about: What options would you like us to consider? We will spend some time considering these from different perspectives

Page 43 of 120 Attachment 1: Groundwater limits and consented allocation for management zones in Rangitāiki Water Management Area (as of 1 February 2019)

Management Zone Plan Consented Consented Remaining Change 9 Allocation Allocation Allocation Allocation (m3/year) (% of limit) (m3/year) Limit (m3/year) Headwaters 35,320,320 1,460 0 35,318,860

Kāingaroa South 44,150,400 0 0 44,150,400 Galatea Plain 8,830,080 5,218,454 59.1 3,611,626 Minginui 45,254,160 80,520 0.2 45,173,640 Kāingaroa North 26,490,240 155,855 0.6 26,334,385 Rangitāiki Rangitāiki Pokairoa 15,452,640 526,308 3.4 14,926,332 Waiohau 1,103,760 0 0 1,103,760 Matahina 16,556,400 0 0 16,556,400

Upper Mid Ikawhenua 23,178,960 0 0 23,178,960 Edgecumbe Catchwater 3,355,430 1,402,914 41.8 1,952,516

Mangamamako 0 18,250 N/A -18,250 Ngakauroa Stream 4,845,506 4,754,449 98.1 91,057 Nursery Drain 143,489 1,561,668 1,088.4 -1,418,179 Rangitāiki Dunes 0 116,250 N/A -116,250 Reids Central Canal 5,750,590 1,881,966 32.7 3,868,624

Lower Rangitāiki Waikowhewhe 0 702,702 N/A -702,720

Page 44 of 120

APPENDIX 2

Kaituna Pongakawa Waitahanui Community Group Workshop 9 Agenda and Briefing Note

Page 45 of 120

Page 46 of 120 Kaituna and Pongakawa-Waitahanui Freshwater Futures Community Groups Workshop Agenda Tuesday 26 March 2019

Chairs: Barry Roderick (Kaituna), Wilma Foster (Pongakawa-Waitahanui) Members: Kaituna: Brian Thomas, Claudia Hellberg, Cor Verwey, Hendrik Metz, Hohepa Maxwell, Ian Schultz, Jessica Dean, Jeff Fletcher, John Fenwick, Jon Fields, Julian Fitter, Manu Wihapi, Maria Horne, Mary Dillon, Matthew Leighton, Morgan Bramley, Murray Linton, Nick Webb, Councillor Paula Thompson, Peter Ellery, Richard Fowler, Vivienne Robinson and Warren Webber Pongakawa-Waitahanui: Andre Hickson, Bernie Hermann, Bev Nairn, Colin McCarthy, Darryl Jensen, Dennis Walker, Geoff Rice, Grant Rowe, Councillor Jane Nees, John Garwood, John Cameron, John Meikle, Julian Fitter, Kepa Morgan, Kevin Marsh, Mike Maassen, Melv Anderson, Paul Van den Berg BOPRC Staff: Pim de Monchy (Relationship Manager); Stephanie Macdonald (Facilitator), Kerry Gosling, Natalie Ridler (Support Facilitator); Nicki Green, Jo Watts (Water Policy), Rochelle Carter, Alastair Suren, Josie Crawshaw (Science) Administrator: Sue Simpson Venue: The Orchard, 20 MacLoughlin Drive, Te Puke Time: 9.00am – 3.00pm 8.30am Join us for a cup of tea catch up 9.00am Welcome Purpose National and regional updates Work in progress

9:30am Estuaries – contaminant load limits and policy directions

10.30am (Approx) Morning Tea

10:45am Lowland water quality and ecology – results and policy directions

12.30pm (Approx) Lunch 1.00pm Mid-upper Kaituna and Pongakawa – water quality issues, policy directions Waitahanui – water quality issues, policy directions Sources and Causes – policy directions Summary of Group advice and feedback Next Steps – mitigation scenarios, discussion with communities 3.00pm Close

Page 47 of 120 Page 48 of 120 BRIEFING NOTE

To: Kaituna and Pongakawa-Waitahanui Freshwater Futures Community Groups

From: Nicki Green, Senior Planner, Water Policy Date: 13 March 2019

Subject: Workshop 9: Surface Water Quality – potential policy options 26 March 2019, The Orchard, Te Puke

1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose The Community Groups provides active feedback and advice to Council as we continue to work towards implementing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM). At this workshop we will:

1. Present information on the estimated contaminant load reductions required in the catchments feeding into Maketū and Waihi estuaries; 2. Present information on lowland water quality and ecology issues; 3. Discuss the extent of the change we need to achieve, and potential ways to achieve it (early policy options for consideration) 4. Look more closely at sources of contaminants and where we might need to focus our attention 5. Discuss water quality issues in Waitahanui and policy options The agenda will also cover:  national and regional updates affecting this work  progress and next steps for this project  work “on the ground” in your catchments now

1.2 Outcomes sought  Community Group members understand findings, limitations, and implications of recent science reports about estuaries and lowland water bodies;  Community Groups have considered and provided initial feedback on potential policy options for surface water quality management;  Staff understand the Community Group members’ perspectives and feedback. This will be considered by staff when preparing policy options and public discussion materials, and will be reported to Council and Te Maru o Kaituna. At this meeting, the Community Groups may want to give some specific minuted advice to Council. The agenda is attached. Most key workshop content is outlined below and in the linked attachments.

1 Page 49 of 120 2 National and regional updates

2.1 Essential Freshwater Central government has indicated a desire to accelerate policy to improve water quality and ecosystem health via their Essential Freshwater work programme focussed on:  Stopping degradation and loss of freshwater resources, waterways and ecosystems;  Reversing past damage to freshwater resources waterways and ecosystems; and  Addressing allocation issues. Changes will be made to national policy and environmental standards for freshwater and three waters management. Government intends to release public discussion documents for feedback around mid-year. Some changes being considered may have large implications in this Water Management Area, such as possible changes to stock exclusion regulations; land use intensification constraints; regulations for high risk land uses like intensive winter grazing of crops; farm environment plan and good practice standards; national regulations and investment for at risk catchments. Bay of Plenty Regional Council councillors have indicated they will not notify any more freshwater plan changes until central government delivers their policy changes and implications are understood. We will continue our work towards a draft plan change in the meantime.

2.2 Region-wide water quantity - proposed plan change 9 Proposed Plan Change 9 is now subject to appeals lodged with the Environment Court. This influences how we can progress surface and groundwater quantity limit setting in Kaituna-Pongakawa-Waitahanui WMA. No dates have been set for Environment Court mediation or hearings. A summary of appeal topics can be found here (pages 187-203).

3 Maketū and Waihī Estuaries

3.1 Estimated contaminant load reduction Waihī and Maketū estuaries are in a degraded condition, and are getting worse. Scientists have estimated the contaminant reductions required to achieve a moderately healthy ecological state. A report was sent to you late last year at this link (pages 55-104). Table 1 summarises the estimated contaminant reductions needed. Staff will present this information at the workshop.

Total Nitrogen Total Phosphorus (tonnes/year) (tonnes/year) Current Limit and % Current Limit and % reduction reduction needed needed Maketū Estuary 477.4 178.7 22.2 13.8 (63%) (38%) Waihī Estuary 618.2 211.9 57.2 40.0 (66%) (30%)

2 Page 50 of 120

Total Suspended Solids E. coli (tonnes/year) (units/day) Current Interim target Current* Limit (% reduction) Maketū Estuary 4,647.2 2014 level 2.84x1012 1.1x1012

(to be estimated, trillion estimated) after Kaituna (60%) re-diversion. Note: 2.84x1012 is 2.84 trillion Waihī Estuary 8075.8 2014 level 1.74 x1012 9x1011 (to be (50%) estimated) Table 1: Current estimated combined contaminant load (from all upstream freshwater bodies) discharging to the estuary and estimated limits (maximum load) and % reduction needed to achieve moderate ecological health in Maketū and Waihī estuaries.

Let’s not beat around the bush … these are daunting numbers. While there are uncertainties about these estimates, we believe the change needed for a moderately healthy ecosystem in each of the estuaries is substantial. At the meeting, we will ask you …. 1. Are you confident that you understand the estimates in Table 1, how they were estimated, and the uncertainties about those estimates? 2. Do you accept the need to reduce contaminant loads as estimated in the report in principle? 3. What concerns/questions do you have about this?

3.2 Potential policy options - holding the line Council staff advise that policies must be set to “hold the line”, that is to halt further increase in contaminant loads to the estuaries (noting this would not improve the estuaries). This could include: 1. Good management practice requirements such as Farm/Orchard Environmental Plans and standards. a. This could include requirements to estimate contaminant losses from the property, which would address a big information gap, that is, we don’t know what practices are happening on each farm. b. It could also include specific requirements, e.g. effective stock exclusion from contaminant source areas, better effluent management, run-off controls, fertiliser/compost controls, identification of loss risk areas, and actions. c. It could include requiring land users to stay within a “good management” range of nutrient generation. 2. Stopping change of land use to more intensive uses, and stopping intensification of existing land uses (e.g., stop increases in stocking rates, or conversion of forest to pastoral or orchard uses) if it will cause more nitrogen and phosphorus losses, unless this can be mitigated.

3 Page 51 of 120 3. Stronger water quality requirements for discharges, including industrial, commercial, wastewater, land drainage and other point source and diffuse discharges. At the meeting, we will ask you to think about each of these options…. 4. What are your big questions about how they would work? 5. What are the pros, cons and alternatives (from different perspectives)? 6. What take away messages do you want staff to consider from the group?

3.3 Potential policy options – reducing contaminant loads In addition to holding the line, staff advise that policies must be set to start reducing contaminant loads over time. Appropriate timeframes and targets are part of this consideration. In addition to the above options, we can consider: 1. Water treatment technologies 2. Retirement of land / conversion to wetlands; 3. Nutrient allocation limits at catchment, sub-catchment, or property scale – 4. Change of land use We are unlikely to start discussing these sorts of options at this workshop, but may do later. As we start to explore these options, we will also explore how they would be achieved, costs and who would pay for them.

4 Lowland water quality and ecology

4.1 Rivers and drains The Natural Resources Regional Plan (Regional Plan) defines a natural water body (modified or not) and what is not a water body. In the operative Regional Plan, the following applies in the Kaituna Plains: Kaituna Pongakawa Waitahanui Water Management Area Rivers Drains Natural Modified natural water Artificial water course watercourse course Kaituna River and Kopuaroa, Remainder of land drainage other rivers in mid- Ohineangaanga, network, farm drains, other and upper Raparapahoe, Waiari, road side drains catchments, Parawhenuamea including: Kaikokopu, Pongakawa, Mangorewa River, Pukehina, Wharere Oeuteheuheu, Canals Onaia, Pokopoko, Pongakawa, Pungarehu, Raparapahoe, Waiari, Waitahanui Streams Table 2: Rivers and drains in Kaituna-Pongakawa-Waitahanui Water Management Area

4 Page 52 of 120 This distinction is important, because Council can control the water quality of discharges from the land in to water (in a drain or water body), and from pipes and drains in to water bodies. The NPSFM makes it compulsory to manage water bodies (not drains) for ecological health and contact recreation values, and they may be managed for other important values too (e.g., mahinga kai). Drains and drain discharges will be managed to support these values in water bodies.

4.2 Water quality and ecology Late last year you were sent this link (pages 105-113) to a report to council about lowland drainage scheme water quality and ecology. The full report is here. We will present this and discuss implications. In particular, we have heard concerns from you and others about ecological health, fish habitat/passage, and natural form/character. At the same time, we also understand that land drainage is in place to enable agriculture and protect people, land and infrastructure from flooding. At the meeting, we will ask you …. 7. Are you confident that you understand the findings of the lowland drainage report, how the results were measured, and the uncertainties/information we don’t have?

4.3 Policy options Council must prepare action plans to improve ecological health of lowland waterbodies, where the Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) is below 80. Ecological health is affected by water quality, habitat (including channel form, shade, etc), connectivity/passage, and flows. At this stage, our policy work will focus on improving water quality, particularly E.coli, ammonia, Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature in water bodies. Council’s catchment management teams and rivers and drainage teams are also looking for opportunities to improve habitat in water bodies and trialling fish friendly pumps. In addition to the policy options discussed above, lowland drainage issues are likely to require a focus on: 1. lowland drain and land management; and 2. pump station discharge management. At the meeting, we will ask you …. 8. Do you agree that we need to focus on lowland drain and land management, and pump station discharge management? 9. What options are there to improve the water quality and ecology of lowland water bodies, and the water quality of drain discharges? What are the challenges, pros and cons? 10. What further information do we need to inform this?

5 Sources and causes We will spend some more time looking at what modelling results suggest about sources of contaminants. We will look at results by sub-catchment, by land use, by tributary, and by draft Freshwater Management Unit (lower, mid-upper, Waitahanui). Have a look at the modelling slides presented at the last workshop if you have time to refresh your memory.

5 Page 53 of 120 At the last meeting, you raised concerns about modelling results. The modellers are still working through feedback from several internal and external peer reviewers. We don’t expect the model will be changed yet, but they will express uncertainties and assumptions more clearly. Staff are still looking into the assumptions driving high sediment loss results from forestry.

5.1 Policy options Policies and rules can be applied to: 1. Particular activities, e.g., industrial/commercial discharges, stock crossings etc. 2. Particular land uses or practices 3. Particular areas (sub catchments, tributary catchments or freshwater management units) At the meeting, we will ask you …. 11. Based on the information we have, where / what might we need to focus our attention on? 12. How well do you think we understand sources and causes of nitrogen, phosphorus, E.coli and sediment in the catchments? 13. What concerns you have about this and what further information you think we need?

6 Waitahanui Water quality issues in Waitahanui catchment differ from the rest of the WMA, particularly because there is no very sensitive estuary. Monitoring shows a rising nitrate trend that needs to be addressed, but currently no nitrate toxicity problem, and no algal bloom problem is indicated. Sediment loads are substantially higher than estimated natural loads. E.coli monitoring indicates E.coli is in central government’s C band in the lower reaches. This is still safe for swimming, but the Community Group has indicated B or A band are appropriate objectives. Invertebrate monitoring at one site indicates invertebrate health is currently good.

6.1 Policy options In the Waitahanui, staff suggest policies will need to focus on arresting nitrate trends, reducing E. coli inputs and sediment loss, and maintaining and restoring habitat and mauri of the wai. As a first step, we will estimate what good practice across the catchment could achieve, based on modelling results. At the meeting, we will ask you …. 14. Whether you agree with the focus issues above? 15. Whether you agree with the policy direction considerations above? 16. What outstanding concerns and questions you have.

6 Page 54 of 120 7 Next steps

7.1 Good practice modelling scenario A good practice mitigation scenario has been developed in close discussion with agricultural consultants and industry organisation, based on the good practices discussed in previous workshops (M1 mitigations). This will be sent to you shortly. Modelling results for this scenario will be presented at a later workshop, along with more discussion about surface water quality. This will provide a rough estimate of what contaminant load could be achieved in the catchment if good practice was implemented, because we don’t have a detailed understanding and model of current on-farm practice, so we have to make quite a few assumptions.

7.2 Meetings with iwi and hapū We have held meetings with some local iwi and hapū, and we provide regular freshwater policy updates and workshops to Te Maru o Kaituna. However, we still need to meet for the first time with some, and need to hold further discussions with each. We are summarising what we have heard to date, and will need to check it with the iwi we have spoken to before circulating this to Community Group members.

7.3 Talking with the community Council has directed staff to start talking about these issues with the wider public in the catchment. Staff will consider your feedback as we prepare information. We will start by raising awareness about the state of the estuaries. We will prepare a discussion document about management issues and policy options. A communications plan is being prepared. We will discuss this at the next workshop.

7 Page 55 of 120

Page 56 of 120

Receives Only – No Decisions

Report To: Regional Direction and Delivery Committee

Meeting Date: 10 April 2019

Report From: Stephen Lamb, Environmental Strategy Manager

Climate Change Update

Executive Summary

This is the first of a series of regular updates on Council’s climate change activities, with a focus on the Climate Change Action Plan. The report explores initiatives at the national, regional and local level, progress on the action plan and other activities.

Climate change is a key strategic challenge for Council and impacts on much of the work Council does. This report provides an update on national level initiatives and outlines the progress made in climate change planning at the local level. It summarises progress on the development of Council’s Action Plan and the opportunities for collaboration and action across the region, including the possibility of setting a regional carbon emissions reduction target for the Bay of Plenty.

Recommendations

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Climate Change Update.

1 Purpose

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on climate change to Council. The need for regular reporting has been identified as a result of climate change being a strategic issue and because of the rapid development of climate change initiatives and policy direction.

This report seeks to provide a comprehensive picture of Council’s engagement with climate change activities. It is anticipated that future reporting (potentially on a two monthly basis) will focus more on:

 Significant activities;  Developing policy areas;  Collaborative initiatives; and

Page 57 of 120 Climate Change Update

 Emergent issues. 2 National Update

2.1 Central Government

The lead Government agency for climate change is the Ministry for the Environment. This Ministry provides advice and support to the Minister for Climate Change. This Minister has the responsibility to develop Central Government’s climate change policy.

A number of initiatives relating to climate change were instigated as part of the new Government’s 100 days programme and have progressed over the last year:

 Consultation on the Zero Carbon Bill took place through June and July 2018, with over 15,000 submissions were received. The Bill is still to go through the Select Committee process however when it is enacted it is expected to set a national emissions reduction target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

 The Interim Climate Change Committee membership and terms of reference was announced on 17 April 2018. The Committee is considering how agriculture and energy (specifically renewable electricity) will contribute to national emissions reductions targets, with final reports due by the end of April 2019.

 NZ Emission Trading Scheme (NZETS): this is the key policy tool for reducing emissions and meeting national emission reduction targets. The Government consulted on proposed improvements to the NZETS throughout August and September 2018. Just over 250 submissions were received from businesses and industry groups, iwi and Māori, community groups and individuals; the majority of which supported the Government’s proposals. The first tranche of decisions on the improvements was made in December 2018, with a second tranche expected in 2019. These decisions will result in a single bill amending the Climate Change Response Act 2002 (CCRA), expected to be introduced to Parliament in the second half of 2019 (https://www.mfe.govt.nz/consultation/ets).

 A Transition Hub was set up to analyse and advise on transition pathways, what a ‘just transition’ could look like and the economic impact of a new 2050 climate target. The Hub is continuing its work in 2019 to deliver advice to Cabinet on the range of costs and benefits of policies available for the Government to reduce emissions. In support of the Transition Hub’s work, the Productivity Commission released its final report in August 2018 on how New Zealand can maximise the opportunities and minimise the costs and risks of transitioning to a lower emissions economy beyond 2030 (https://www.productivity.govt.nz/inquiry- content/3254?stage=4).

Other initiatives supported through the Government include:

 The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), which is managed through the Ministry of Business and Innovation & Employment, aims to lift productivity in the provinces and includes helping to meet New Zealand’s climate change targets as one of its priorities. Initial funding of $3 billion has been allocated over three years (https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/economic- development/regional-economic-development/provincial-development-unit/).

2 Page 58 of 120 Climate Change Update

 The ‘One Billion Trees Programme’, managed by the Ministry for Primary Industry and led by Te Uru Rākau (Forestry New Zealand), is funded through the PGF. The $240 million fund for this programme was launched on 30 November 2018, to be distributed through direct landowner grants and partnership grants (https://www.teururakau.govt.nz/funding-and-programmes/forestry/planting-one- billion-trees/one-billion-tree-fund/). Regional Council is involved in a number of application processes (see Section 5).

 The Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group published its final report in May 2018 providing recommended actions for New Zealand to build resilience to the effects of climate change while growing the economy sustainably (http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/climate-change/adapting- climate-change-new-zealand-recommendations-climate-change). This work informed the update to MfE’s Coastal hazards and climate change guidance which was updated in December 2017.

 The Climate Change Forestry Reference Group was established to help officials test evidence, analysis and policy options to increase carbon sequestration from forestry, in particular relating to the NZ ETS. The Group published their final report in November 2018 (https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/33250-climate-change-forestry- reference-group-final-report-november-2018/sitemap).

 The Biological Emissions Reference Group (BERG), established in 2016, has been building the evidence base on what can be done to reduce biological emissions along with the costs and opportunities of doing so. BERG released their report in December 2018 (https://www.mpi.govt.nz/protection-and- response/environment-and-natural-resources/biological-emissions-reference- group/).

 Dairy Action for Climate Change, which was launched in June 2017, aims to improve the environmental footprint of dairy farms and understand what the dairy sector can do in conjunction with the wider agricultural sector, alongside industry and urban communities, to meet New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets. This is led by DairyNZ in partnership with Fonterra and supported by the Ministry for the Environment and Ministry for Primary Industries.

 The $100 million New Zealand Green Investment Finance Ltd was launched in December 2018 as part of the Government’s commitment to address climate change and support New Zealand’s transition towards a net-zero-emissions economy by 2050 (https://treasury.govt.nz/information-and-services/commercial- portfolio-and-advice/new-zealand-green-investment-finance).

 The International Carbon Markets Project, established in 2016, is exploring options for New Zealand to supplement domestic climate change action and forestry with high-integrity international emission reduction units in the 2020s. New Zealand also leads the Ministerial Declaration on Carbon Markets – a group of countries developing standards and guidelines for environmental integrity in international carbon markets.

 A report prepared for MfE on the climate finance landscape in New Zealand was released in April 2018 (https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/climate- change/climate-finance-landscape-aotearoa-new-zealand-preliminary-survey).

3 Page 59 of 120 Climate Change Update

 A report has recently been released by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment “Farms, forests and fossil fuels: The next great landscape transformation” March 2019. This report examines a different approach to framing NZ’s long term climate change targets and what this could mean for the landscape.

2.2 Local Government

There is increasing interest across a number of areas in aligning work programmes and agency agendas with climate change as a strategic issue.

 Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) held a Climate Change Symposium in September 2018 and, more recently, published their report on ‘The quantum of local government infrastructure exposed to sea level rise’ in January 2019 as part of their Climate Change Project (http://www.lgnz.co.nz/our- work/publications/summary-of-vulnerable-the-quantum-of-local-government- infrastructure-exposed-to-sea-level-rise). There was also a specific ‘Climate Change Adaptation’ session at the most recent LGNZ Rural and Provincial Sector meeting in March 2019, which covered topics such as climate change litigation.

 The Society of Local Government Managers will be hosting a second Climate Change Forum in Christchurch, 27-28 June 2019.

 The Regional and Unitary Chief Executive Officers’ Group (RCEO) has established a climate change sector group to look at how regional councils and unitary authorities are recognising the challenges of adaptation. Stephen Lamb is supporting this sector on behalf of Fiona McTavish.

 The Upper North Island Strategic Alliance (UNISA) Chief Executives will be discussing possible collaborative work on climate change adaptation at its meeting on 29 March 2019. Regional Council staff have been involved in preparing the discussion paper for the meeting.

2.3 Sectors

A range of developments are occurring within economic sectors. These range from individual firms positioning themselves in the market place as “carbon neutral” through to industry wide best practice being explored and implemented.

Staff are considering how an overall sector view of initiatives and actions could be obtained so that this could be put up against the Regional Carbon Footprint information. There is the potential for this initiative to become an aspect of the (draft) climate change action plans “community outreach” focus area. 3 Regional Update and Progress

3.1 COBOP

 Through the climate change cluster, a workshop around the Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology research report on Sustainable Public Procurement in the Bay of Plenty was held in December 2018 with relevant staff from the region’s local authorities, BOPLASS and the Sustainable Business Network. It was agreed that BOPLASS was the most appropriate route to develop a joined

4 Page 60 of 120 Climate Change Update

up approach to sustainable procurement and this was to be discussed with the BOPLASS Board.

 COBOP is currently undergoing a review which was discussed at the recent COBOP Leadership Forum on 11 March. At this point it is unclear whether the climate change cluster will continue, but there are also opportunities for wider collaboration on this issue with some of the other regional groups.

3.2 CONNECT Bay of Plenty

 CONNECT (the regional network of businesses and EDAs) is starting to look at sustainability issues. The theme of their recent meeting on 5 March was ‘Engaging the Business Community in environmental sustainability action’ and was attended by both CONNECT and COBOP climate change cluster representatives. Venture Southland presented on their Carbon Neutral Advantage project and Scion on their work around the circular economy. There were also workshop sessions on the sustainability challenges and opportunities for businesses in the Bay.

3.3 Bay of Connections

 Following the recent review of Bay of Connections, a small working group is currently engaging with key stakeholders on the refreshed regional development framework. A low-carbon economy is one possible area of focus for the organisation going forward, with potential to link up with CONNECT and COBOP on this theme.

3.4 Regional local authorities

Staff from the regional local authorities have been meeting regularly over the past year to share ideas and updates on action planning progress and identify opportunities for working together. A number of items of note:

 The development of a climate change action plan is key focus for a number of the region’s local authorities: each council is at different stages and taking a slightly different approach, but staff have been working together to share information and identify opportunities for collective action. We have shared Regional Council’s outline action plan and decision making guidelines with the other councils for them to use or adapt within their own plans.

 Whakatāne (WDC) and Western Bay (WBOPDC) District Councils and Tauranga City Council (TCC) are engaging in CEMARS certification and are in the process of setting up the initial (baseline) audit. TCC have recently appointed an Energy and Carbon Manager who will lead their work in this area and focus on their internal carbon footprint. The Regional Council is also undergoing this certification.

 WDC is engaging with the community on climate change through Envirohub’s Sustainable Backyards, with a plan to also consult on climate change through their Annual Plan. Our Environmental Strategy Manager has been invited to join the WDC Climate Change Steering Group to facilitate our councils working together in this area.

 Collective action: Staff have jointly discussed the concept of a “Bay of Plenty” climate change website to link together in a collective manner all “council”

5 Page 61 of 120 Climate Change Update

activities. The topic of setting a “Bay of Plenty” climate change target – and how this could be promulgated through each organisation - is also being discussed 4 Progress on the Climate Change Action Plan

Council is committed to developing a ‘climate change action plan’ under the ‘New Zealand Local Government Leaders’ Climate Change Declaration 2017’ signed in October 2017.

The Climate Change Action Plan being developed aims to bring the various streams of work connected with climate change across Council together and focus them into a coordinated and coherent approach.

The Action Plan covers both mitigation and adaptation, and is organised into four focus areas:

Focus area Actions / pathways 1. Reducing Council’s own Undertaking “house in order” actions (including fleet carbon footprint (internal management, property, procurement) mitigation) 2. Incorporating climate Incorporating climate change into all the decisions we change considerations in make on behalf of or with our community our decision making (internal) 3. The services we provide Building on the work we already do around climate as a regional council change in the services we provide in terms of (mitigation and adaptation) mitigation (e.g. electric buses) and adaptation (e.g. working with communities to build resilience) 4. Community outreach Looking at a regional response to climate change and (mitigation and adaptation) the role we could play in supporting our communities, iwi, industry, organisations and individuals.

Staff have recently been recruited into two climate change specialist roles: Principal Advisor, Climate Change in the Engineering Team and Senior Planner, Climate Change in the Environmental Strategy Team. This second role will allow a stronger focus on development of the action plan.

4.1 General update

 Working groups are being established to refine the actions and pathways under each of the four focus areas. These will form the basis of the draft action plan which staff are planning to present to the RDD Committee at the meeting on 25 June.

 A question seeking the community’s views on the priority focus area(s) for the action plan has been included in the Annual Plan consultation document. The consultation period runs from 18 March - 6 May). Submissions to the consultation will inform the development of the draft action plan.

 A Climate Change Action Plan webpage (https://www.boprc.govt.nz/our- projects/climate-change-action-plan/) has been set up to support the Annual Plan consultation process and provide updates to the community on progress.

6 Page 62 of 120 Climate Change Update

 The internal 5CG (Cross Council Coordination on Climate Change Group) continues to meet regularly and is a key vehicle for supporting the development of the action plan.

4.2 Focus area 1: Reducing Council’s own footprint

 As part of the building refurbishment project, Council will complete a Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS) formal baseline audit of our business carbon footprint. This audit will take place once the building works are complete but will allow a historical comparison to be made.

 Council is increasing the number of electric vehicles in its fleet to five (plus 1 hybrid). Opportunities to further increase this number will be outlined in the draft action plan.

4.3 Focus area 2: Incorporating climate change considerations in our decision making

 Council will be implemented a new report writing template (Infocouncil) as part of the new triennial. The template will include a specific section on climate change considerations. This will provide greater visibility to the wide range of work Council undertakes in relation to climate change and will also support a shift to climate change considerations becoming part of ‘business as usual thinking’. Guidelines are being developed to support staff in considering the climate change impacts of their work.

4.4 Focus area 3: The services we provide as a regional council

 Regional Parks planting programme: another steep area of Pāpāmoa Hills Regional Park is being retired and is scheduled to be planted with around 27,000 plants in July 2019.

 Transport: the five electric buses are expected to join the fleet in August 2019.

 River Scheme Sustainability Project (ongoing).

4.5 Focus area 4: Community outreach

 Currently finalising a draft Community Adaptation Strategy to ensure we inform and encourage our community through targeted climate change programmes to enhance adaptive behaviour and build resilience within the Bay of Plenty Region.

4.6 Mitigation targets

 Regional Council target: Staff have been assessing potential high level emissions target options for the organisation, with a view to identifying a target that is robust, easy to communicate, achievable while aspirational, and where success will contribute directly to reduced carbon emissions. A proposed high level target will be brought to the Committee in conjunction with the draft Action Plan in June 2019.

 Bay of Plenty Regional target: As noted above, staff have also been considering options for a regional target for the Bay of Plenty in discussion with

7 Page 63 of 120 Climate Change Update

some of the region’s local authorities. Delivery of such a target would require working together with a range of sectors: engagement with iwi, hapū and the wider community would be an essential part of this process, as well as involving business and industry perspectives through the COBOP, CONNECT and BoC networks. Venture Southland’s Carbon Neutral Advantage Project may be a useful model to follow in agreeing and delivering on a regional target. 5 Other Activities

 Regional Council is involved in a number of applications to the One Billion Trees (1BT) fund:

o A collective application from the regional sector for funds and capability to deliver on 1BT in each region (known as the ‘Uber Bid’). Negotiations with MPI are ongoing.

o We will be applying to MPI with or on behalf of landowners for each new Environmental Programme that qualifies for the grant funding, if the potential contribution from 1BT exceeds the cost of applying for and administering the grant.

o We are also likely to support Focus Catchment groups to apply for 1BT partnership funding, or apply on their behalf, if they wish to collectively commit to either an area of forest or a number of trees that meet the criteria.

 Preparations for Council’s annual youth event, Taiohi-Taiao Youth Jam (21- 23 May in Rotorua), focusing on the kaupapa of climate change, are now well underway. Information has been sent out to all secondary schools in the region, inviting them to send up to five Year 11-12 students. The Community Engagement team is working with others across Council and beyond to coordinate a programme of interactive, educational and action-focused activities for the rangatahi and teachers who attend the event.

 A number of staff from a range of activity areas attended a Deep South Challenge webinar on 19 February covering legal liability and ethics in climate adaptation. A new Deep South Challenge research report, ‘The cascading impacts of climate change’ was also published in February 2019.

 Envirohub’s Sustainable Backyards has the theme of climate change this year. There are events running across the region during the month of March, including a speaker’s forum in Tauranga on 29 March with presentations from Rod Oram, Prof Bruce Clarkson, David Hall, Dr. Mike Joy, Prof Chris Battershill and Belinda Storey.

 Schools across the region took part in the Climate Change strike on 15 March: over 400 students from Tauranga took to the streets, with school children in Whakatāne and Rotorua also attending local gatherings. Nationally, thousands of children took part in events throughout the country.

 Climate change continues to be an element of the natural hazards programme working across the Bay of Plenty. A particular focus is the risk associated with sea level rise.

8 Page 64 of 120 Climate Change Update

6 Implications for Maori

Climate change is of interest to Māori as it is to the whole community. Māori have particular interests around the impacts of climate change on land and land use – and in climate change adaptation where coastal areas are subject to sea level rise and weather event erosion. Climate change is beginning to be identified specifically in iwi management plans with the inclusion of natural hazards as a key topic. In addition to iwi management plans, the Rangitaiki River Forum and Te Maru o Kaituna have produced two river documents that have the potential to support mitigation of climate change effects, such as flooding. Collaboration with the co-governance entities in both catchments provides further opportunities to address matters of concern to iwi and hapū.

It is likely that Council’s climate change activities will begin to interface more with Māori, particularly when there is an enhanced focus by central government on Māori participation in decision making. Recognition of mātauranga Māori is prevalent in National Policy Statements and in the recently released papers on fresh water management. Staff are aware of the opportunities to widen Council’s understanding of the Te Ao Māori view on climate change and recognise the important contribution tangata whenua can make in Council’s climate change initiatives. A review of iwi planning documents is being initiated to identify climate change content to inform Council’s position.

7 Community Outcomes

This project directly contributes to the ‘A healthy environment’ and ‘Safe and resilient communities’ Community Outcomes in the Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028. 8 Next Steps

Focus areas in the next period include:

 Exploring the use of existing or new multi-agency networks to support the Regional Council’s climate change work.  Re-engaging with Council functions to identify/refine actions for the Draft Climate Change Action Plan.  Engaging through the Draft Annual Plan process with community ideas for inclusion in the Draft Climate Change Action Plan.  Preparing the Draft Climate Change Action Plan for presentation to the RDD Committee.

Jane Palmer Senior Planner Climate Change for Environmental Strategy Manager

1 April 2019 Click here to enter text.

9 Page 65 of 120

Page 66 of 120

Receives Only – No Decisions

Report To: Regional Direction and Delivery Committee

Meeting Date: 10 April 2019

Report From: Sarah Omundsen, General Manager, Regulatory Services

Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

Executive Summary

Air quality in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area has been of concern for some time. Since new air monitors were commissioned in late 2018 there have been a number of exceedances of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NES) and we are now in breach of the NES.

Regional Council has an extensive work programme underway, first to identify the sources of the contaminants, and then to reduce these discharges. This report provides you with an update on this air quality work, and other associated activities in the area.

Since the last report you received on 19 February 2019, one exceedance of the NES for PM10 was recorded at the Mount Rail Yard South site, and no SO2 exceedances were detected. In total we have had one permitted exceedance and six breaches of PM10, plus three permitted exceedances and one breach of the SO2 NES. Investigations are underway to determine the sources of all exceedances.

Recommendations

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update;

1 Background and purpose of this report

This update continues the regular reporting on activities and actions undertaken to mitigate the impacts of industrial discharges in the Mount Maunganui industrial area. Air quality in the area has been of concern for a period of time as the number of industrial air emissions has increased to match the increase in Port and business activity. Since an expanded air quality monitoring regime was instigated in late 2018 several exceedances of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NES), PM10 and SO2 have been detected, as have exceedances of Ambient Air Quality Guidelines for Total Suspended Particulate (TSP) and Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S). These exceedances are being investigated.

Page 67 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

Regional Council has an extensive work programme underway, first to identify the sources of the contaminants, and then to reduce these discharges. A key part of the programme is the management framework, and a decision for gazetting a Mount Maunganui Airshed in order to improve the management framework is included in this agenda. 2 Implications for Tangata Whenua

Ngāi Te Rangi iwi and affiliated hapū, particularly those with connections to Whareroa Marae, are major stakeholders in the Mount Maunganui industrial area and activities undertaken there. Residents around Taiaho Place, people attending events in the area, and children at the marae Kohanga Reo are affected by contaminant discharges to air. The Council have operated an air quality monitoring station at Whareroa Marae for almost three years, set up regular meetings with iwi representatives and engaged with marae residents on issues and concerns. Air quality at the marae is sampled for a wide range of contaminant parameters that may affect human health and wellbeing. 3 Monitoring and exceedances to date

Since the additional air monitors were commissioned in late 2018 we have had one permitted exceedance and six breaches of PM10 plus three permitted exceedances and one breach of the SO2 NES. PM10 exceedances have been recorded at Whareroa Marae, De Havilland Way and the Kiwi Rail Yard South. All SO2 exceedances have been recorded at Rata St. Given the number of overall exceedances, we are now in breach of the NES.

The table below summarises the exceedances and breaches recorded to date.

Date Monitor Contaminant Concentration* Investigation Status location 3 09/11/2018 Whareroa PM10 61 µg/m Monitoring tape has been electron photographed. Marae Sample composition has been analysed. Phosphate signature with wide range of other particulate. 3 11/12/2018 Whareroa PM10 55 µg/m Monitoring tape has been electron photographed. Marae Sample composition has been analysed. Wide range of mixed particulate detected. 3 17/12/2018 Whareroa PM10 63 µg/m Monitoring tape has been electron photographed. Marae Sample composition has been analysed. Ballance has been asked to investigate operations on their site at the time of the exceedance. 3 5/01/2019 De PM10 63 µg/m Abatement notice issued to RMD Transport to Havilland cease breach of NES. Monitoring tape has been Way analysed. Tapioca particles were detected. 3 1/02/2019 De PM10 59 µg/m Monitoring tape has been analysed. A wide range Havilland of particulate detected. No specific source Way predominant, upwind activities being undertaken at the time are being investigated. 3 5/02/2019 Kiwi Rail PM10 70 µg/m Monitoring tape has been collected for electron Yard photography followed by scientific analysis. All South upwind activities being undertaken at the time are being investigated.

2 Page 68 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

3 5/03/2019 Kiwi Rail PM10 62 µg/m Monitoring tape to be collected for electron Yard photography followed by scientific analysis. All South upwind activities being undertaken at the time are being investigated.

3 22/01/2019 Rata SO2 363 µg/m Working with PoT to determine shipping and any Street other sources in proximity to the monitoring site. Coincides with a cruise ship being in port.

3 24/01/2019 Rata SO2 574 µg/m Working with PoT to determine shipping and any Street other sources in proximity to the monitoring site. Coincides with a cruise ship being in port.

3 28/01/2019 Rata SO2 357.1 µg/m Working with PoT to determine shipping and any Street 351.5 µg/m3 other sources in proximity to the monitoring site. Coincides with a cruise ship being in port.

* For PM10 the limit is 50 µg/m3 (over 24 hours) with one exceedance/year permitted; for SO2 the limit is 350 µg/m3 (over 1 hour) with nine exceedances allowed a year, with no exceedances allowed above 570 µg/m3 (over 1 hour). 4 Investigating breaches of NES limits

Every breach of National Environmental Standards for either PM10 or SO2 triggers an investigation to be undertaken by a number of teams in the organisation. Investigations will look into meteorological data at the time of the breach (wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity) and assess the types of activities that were undertaken at the time in an upwind direction of the monitoring station.

Commonly the particulate sampling tape from within the monitor will be removed for scanning electron microscope analysis. High definition photographs of individual particles collected within the sample can indicate the main particulates that caused the breach. This information may assist staff in identifying the location of a particular activity being undertaken. In the case of stock foods, some like tapioca have a unique particle shape and size which can be separately identified. If the particulate sample is showing tapioca particles it may be deduced that an activity associated with tapioca has contributed to the exceedance. Likewise with exceedances at Whareroa Marae, a phosphorous signature has been detected in each sample which could indicate that activities at Ballance Agri-nutrients are contributing to the exceedances detected at that site.

4.1 De Havilland Way investigations

There are three monitoring stations located at De Havilland Way. The purpose of these stations is to determine whether activities undertaken in the bulk stock food storage sheds located at 101 Aerodrome Road are causing breaches of the National Environmental Standards. So far two breaches have been detected the first on 5th January 2019 and another on 1st February 2019.

In the case of the first exceedance at De Havilland Way, tapioca dust particles were present in the air quality monitor samples collected at the time of the breach. Investigations determined the only activity being undertaken at the time was the transportation and unloading of tapioca stock feed, indicating this was likely to be a major contributing factor in the exceedance. An abatement notice RA19-00003 was issued for the first breach.

3 Page 69 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

For the second exceedance, samples were sent to Waikato University for scanning electron microscope analysis. A wide range of particles were present and so further work is being undertaken.

The site geography and building lay-out at De Havilland Way means wind sheltering effects are caused by the warehouse to the north and the hangar/dwellings to the south. Low PM10 values are detected when winds are from the southern quadrant. High PM10 values are associated with winds from the northern quadrant. Polar plots of the finer resolution data are shown in the graphics below for the period 1/12/2018 to 4/3/2019. The average plot (Figure 1) highlights some continual particle hotspot directions; the maximum plot (Figure 2) shows where high values can occur across a wider arc.

Figure 1: Average fine resolution PM10 data

Figure 2: Maximum fine resolution PM10 data

4 Page 70 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

4.2 Whareroa Marae investigations

Staff continue to investigate the three PM10 exceedances detected at Whareroa Marae. The monitoring tape from each event has been analysed under electron microscopy. Each sample analysed contains contaminants from multiple potential sources making it difficult to confirm a single source of the exceedance. Depending on wind direction, the Whareroa site is exposed to dust from a number of activities such as fertiliser storage and movement at Ballance, log yards at the Port, unloading bulk stock food at the Port, ships emissions and natural sources such as beach sand and evaporated salt off the harbour.

Staff are currently looking at the lab analysis of the particles, wind modelling, and activity at all industrial sites at the time of the exceedances. Whilst an ideal outcome would be that a single source of the dust is identified and enforcement action taken, this is proving difficult. There was a positive detection of a phosphorous signature in the samples collected which indicates Ballance to be a contributor. A meeting was subsequently held with Ballance and all the information collated by BoPRC was provided to them. We are waiting for Ballance to conduct their own in-house investigation as to activities being undertaken on their site at the time of the exceedances and report this back to BoPRC staff. There are also a number of other potential sources currently being investigated.

A meeting is planned with Ngāi Te Rangi and the Whareroa community which will be held once the investigation has been concluded. 5 Methyl bromide update.

5.1 Sustainable Business Network meeting

On 28 February 2019 a meeting to discuss methyl bromide was hosted by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and chaired by the Sustainable Business Network. It was a follow-up meeting to one held in July 2018, called for by the Tauranga Moana Fumigant Action Group (TMFAG). It involved a wide range of parties including the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Work Safe, Toi Te Ora, Genera, Port of Tauranga, Iwi, Tourism Bay of Plenty, Kāingaroa Timberlands and TMFAG. In addition to Regional Council staff, Councillor Thompson was also present.

Many expressed the view that there was a need for more health monitoring of Port workers, as well as real-time monitoring of the gas concentrations that workers are exposed to. Council staff discussed some of the actions being undertaken including:

 Increased compliance monitoring and greater use of handheld meters and canisters  Increased Council staff presence, including a staff member now based on the Port  Five new fixed volatile organic compound (VOC) / methyl bromide monitoring sites  Greater use of surveillance cameras. There was also discussion about the distinction between the number (or percent) of fumigation events subject to recapture, and the recovery rate (or efficiency) of the recapture process.

5 Page 71 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

In terms of the percent of events subject to recapture, the consent held by Genera requires an incremental increase over time. 100% of container fumigations have been recaptured since 30 July 2018, and currently over 60% of log / timber fumigations are being recaptured. The consent requires this to be increased to 100% on 30 April 2019, 18 months ahead of the EPA schedule. A deferral to this date has been requested by Genera.

The consent does not specify the efficiency of recapture required however the Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction (STIMBR) has stated that 80% recapture efficiency could be consistently achieved using current technology. They further stated that recapture up to 95% was observed in a trial. A lesser percentage of recapture efficiency is achievable from ship holds.

Logs and other porous materials absorb methyl bromide during fumigation. Any gas absorbed is then not available for recapture and will eventually be released to the atmosphere. The recapture efficiency percentages relate to only what is available for recapture, rather than the original concentration, and do not include what is absorbed.

We do not yet have agreement on how to measure the concentration of methyl bromide under sheets remaining at the end of recapturing.

5.2 Fumigation Management Plan (FMP)

This plan was developed by Genera (in consultation with Regional Council) in response to appeals to the abatement notices issued to Genera in 2018. It is close to being formally approved by Council, and clarifies a number of requirements. The only outstanding item remaining is agreement on the methodology for measuring the methyl bromide concentrations under tarpaulins following the completion of the recapture process, prior to release to atmosphere.

5.3 Consent variation application

An application from Genera is currently being processed to allow for cargo within ship holds to be fumigated at berth when MPI detects the presence of a possible biosecurity threat (currently only logs and timber may be fumigated in ship holds at berth).

5.4 Central Government meeting

On 25 March 2019 several Government ministers will be meeting with key stakeholders in the forestry industry, as well as some Regional Council CEO’s (including Fiona McTavish). This follows on from a letter Environment Minister David Parker wrote to industry groups last year in which he says that he and his colleagues are "very concerned" that the (EPA) recapture deadline of October 2020 will be missed. 6 Science and monitoring information

Environet Ltd was engaged by BoPRC to undertake a detailed air emission inventory for the area defined by the Tauranga City boundary. The scope of the inventory was to assess the sources of the NES contaminants. Those assessed include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. A final draft inventory has been received by council staff who expect to present the final report at the next RDD meeting.

6 Page 72 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

The latest ambient air quality monitoring information for the Mount Industrial Area is provided at Appendix 1.

A suite of sulphur dioxide dispersion modelling reports have been produced, with a particular focus on emissions from Ballance Agri Nutrients Ltd, Lawters Ltd and Waste Management Ltd. These are outlined for information at Appendix 2 and will be presented at a future RDD meeting once a response to the findings has been received by the relevant consent holders.

7 Implementing the Plan Change 13, Air Quality

The majority of changes to the air quality rules for Bay of Plenty that have been carried through Plan Change 13 are activity specific and only affect a small number of businesses.

In the Mount Industrial Area, these businesses will be notified about the changes and if applicable, consent requirements affecting individual activities. This has already occurred for bulk cargo handlers and pet food factories and will be undertaken as a project to inform spray painting operations.

The council plan to raise awareness of the changes through other channels as well. This includes industry meetings, general media releases, social media posts, the website plus everyone who made a submission regarding Plan Change 13 will receive a summary of changes sheet in addition to the amended plan and council decisions. 8 Industrial site actions and activities update

8.1 Port of Tauranga

8.1.1 Air quality management

 Work has been undertaken with BOPRC to identify potential PM10 and total suspended particulate (TSP) sources following PM10 exceedances and elevations above TSP guidelines at BOPRC monitoring stations. This work has utilised CCTV footage where available and has identified potential sources both inside port boundaries, such as the recovery of bark products in open areas, as well as activities outside of the Port boundaries, such as locomotive engines parked and idling in close proximity to monitoring stations for extended periods. The Port is looking into mitigation options for activities identified as potential sources in Port boundaries.

 The Port has employed five new team leaders who will oversee straddle crane operations on the ground 24/7. The straddle cranes operate at Sulphur Point and load containers on and off ships. The Straddle Team Leaders will increase the Port’s physical presence in the operational area and have received their first training session in environmental awareness and management. This included training in spill minimisation and response standards, and training in housekeeping standards including the identification of environmental risk.

 The new log berth sweeping requirements have been up and running for several months now and improvements in berth cleanliness has been seen. Trials of rope bund stormwater filtering are also proving to be successful in reducing berth sediment/particulate run off in rain events. The bunding is to be trialled on the remaining log berths.

7 Page 73 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

8.1.2 Stormwater management

 Routine maintenance including desludging has been undertaken on the Hewlett’s Road and Sulphur Point stormwater ponds. At the Sulphur Point pond upgrades intended to improve pond performance and increase isolation of potential spills that may enter the stormwater network are in progress.

 The ongoing characterisation of Mount wharves stormwater has decelerated following the extended dry period, however, recent rainfall has allowed for some monitoring to be undertaken. The Port is awaiting results.

 The only remaining submitter on the stormwater consent proposal is Tauranga City Council, and consent hearing is scheduled for 7 May 2019. An independent commissioner has been appointed to chair the hearing and a decision on the application is required within 15 working days of the hearing being closed. 9 Service Requests (complaint) response 8 February to 7 March 2019

The majority of air quality complaints received during the month of February to early March relate to on-going odour issues associated with Ziwi pet-food manufacturing processes. Council officers attend the manufacturing plant on a daily basis, working with the business owners to try to find solutions to the odour discharge issues. Ziwi is in the process of building new premises in the Tauriko Industrial estate.

SRs in Mt Industrial area 8 Feb-7 Mar '19 Category # % Air 105 98.1 Water and Land 2 1.9 Total 107 100

SRs in Mt Industrial area 8 Feb-7 Mar '19 Sub-Category (Air) # % Dust 9 8.6 Industrial 2 1.9 Odour 94 89.5 Total 105 100

SRs in Mt Industrial area 8 Feb-7 Mar '19 Subject # % Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd 1 0.9 Dominion Salt 1 0.9 Genera Limited 1 0.9 HR Cement 1 0.9 Lawter (NZ) Limited 1 0.9 Port of Tauranga Limited 2 1.9 RMD 2 1.9 Sanford’s 1 0.9 TCC 3 2.8

8 Page 74 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

Unknown 5 4.7 Ziwi Limited 89 83.2 Total 107 100

10 Communications and engagement

10.1 Communication

Since the new monitoring stations went live in late 2018 a large amount of new air quality data has been collected and analysed. Starting next month the records for PM10 and SO2 will be made publically available via our existing Environmental Portal.

Reporting on such a large volume of data in a meaningful way is both challenging and expensive. We are currently reviewing options to deliver this information in a more relatable way.

If verified results exceed the NES we are required to publically notify these results. The public notices are printed in the Bay of Plenty Times and also shared via our Regional Council website. Tauranga City Council, Work Safe, Toi Te Ora, Ministry for the Environment, local iwi and hapū and relevant industrial installations are also notified.

When more notable exceedances occur we will notify media and make use of available social media channels. A recent example of this can be seen on our website under February 2019 media releases.

The website will be a key Communications tool to raise awareness of the multiple issues we are looking to better understand in this area including PM10 (fine, inhalable dust), S02, Methyl Bromide and stormwater discharges and the work we’re doing to address the issues. A project page will be developed within the website and this platform will act as a single source covering topical issues like our monitoring programme, air sheds and shipping emissions. Social media and other communication tools will be utilised to direct people to this area.

10.2 Engagement

Stakeholder engagement is currently well established with affected parties in the area. There is regular contact with Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui iwi and affiliated hapū at the Whareroa marae. A wider collective of Tauranga Moana iwi and hapū are on the email notification list.

We meet as required with residents and business owners in De Havilland Way and are in regular communication with business operators at 101 Aerodrome Road. Council staff have met with government agencies, Toi te Ora & Worksafe and Tauranga City Council & Airport management in regard to De Havilland Way and are looking to expand these meetings to cover the whole industrial area.

The council also sponsors the Mount Industrial Environment Network which every major business owner and operator in the industrial area is invited to attend a two to three yearly meeting cycle. There are daily interactions with Port of Tauranga management and staff as well as with activity operators on Port land.

9 Page 75 of 120 Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update

11 Budget Implications

11.1 Current Year Budget

This work is being undertaken within the current budget in the Long Term Plan 2018- 2028

Future Budget Implications

Future work in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area is provided for in the Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028. 12 Community Outcomes

This project directly contributes to a Healthy Environment, Safe and Resilient Communities and a Vibrant Region in Community Outcomes in the council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

Reece Irving Senior Regulatory Project Officer for General Manager, Regulatory Services

27 March 2019 Click here to enter text.

10 Page 76 of 120

APPENDIX 1

. Ambient air quality information for Mount Industrial Area

Page 77 of 120

Page 78 of 120 Ambient air quality information for Mount Industrial Area

Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)

Levels of SO2 are measured at six separate locations in the Mount Industrial area. These are the original sites at Whareroa Marae, Harbour Bridge Marina and Totara Street as well as three new sites at Rata Street, Rail Yard South and Sulphur Point. For the three original sites levels continue to track well below 200µg/m3 as a 1 hour average which has been the pattern for the last 6 months with no NES exceedances detected at Whareroa Marae since mid-2016.

Page 79 of 120

Four SO2 exceedances have been detected at Rata Street since monitoring began. The exceedances recorded have all coincided with meteorological data showing a predominantly westerly wind flow and cruise ships being berthed at the Port during the periods the exceedances are detected. This close relationship indicates the stack emissions from cruise ships are the likely cause of SO2 exceedances detected at this location.

Page 80 of 120

Hydrogen sulphide (H2S)

The New Zealand Ambient Air Quality Guideline for hydrogen sulphide is 7µg/m3 which is based on odour nuisance in non-geothermal areas. Values have exceeded this guideline at Whareroa Marae, and approach it on a number of occasions. Natural sources often provide elevated levels as decomposition of organic matter occurs within the estuarine environment. In the immediate vicinity of Whareroa Marae, Ballance and Waste Management Ltd both hold consents allowing the discharge of H2S which is a by-product of their industrial processes. Staff are working with both industrial sites to implement solutions to reduce H2S discharges.

Particulate Matter less than 10 microns (PM10)

The council monitors fine particulate in the form of PM10 at our Rata Street, Totara Street, Rail Yard South, Whareroa Marae and Sulphur Point monitoring stations. Under the 3 National Environmental Standards, the PM10 limit is 50µg/m averaged over a 24 hour period, with one exceedance allowed in a 12 month period. The figure below summarises

Page 81 of 120 the 24 hour data from all the PM10 monitoring sites. Exceedances of the standard have been recorded at Whareroa Marae (x3) and Rail Yard South (x2).

Page 82 of 120

APPENDIX 2

. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission modelling information

Page 83 of 120

Page 84 of 120 Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission modelling information

A suite of air quality dispersion modelling reports has been produced for Regional Council. These reports look at SO2, with a particular focus on emissions from Ballance Agri Nutrients Ltd, Lawters Ltd and Waste Management Ltd. These are three operations emitting SO2 located to the south of the Mount Maunganui industrial area.

These companies all hold air discharge consents for SO2 emissions. Each business has been provided with a copy of the emission modelling reports. Council has asked for comment on the report’s findings, as these will have an impact around the conditions of air discharge consents as they come up for review. Council staff will also use these reports to guide management of this contaminant within the wider Mount Maunganui Industrial Area.

The suite of reports consist of four documents:

1. A Meteorological Assessment and Development of a 3-Dimensional Meteorological Model for Air Quality Applications in the Tauranga Region for 2014, 2015 and 2016. 2. Appendices for Meteorological Assessment and Development of a 3-Dimensional Meteorological Model for Air Quality Applications in the Tauranga Region for 2014, 2015 and 2016. 3. Maximum Industrial Emission Limit Testing (MEL) Modelling - Results for 1-hour and 24-hour SO2 for 2014, 2015 and 2016. 4. Continuous Emission Modelling and SO2 removals. Results for 10-minute, 1-hour and 24- hour SO2 for 2014, 2015 and 2016 from Industry, Airport, White Island, Shipping and Road Traffic.

The results of the current consented emission limits show significant exceedances beyond the consented boundaries of the 1-hour National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NES) and 24- hour guideline SO2 assessment criteria for all three years. Each of the facilities, individually, cause exceedances of either the 1-hour max, 1-hour 99.9th percentile or, the 24-hour SO2 NES and guidelines.

Even though Waste Management Ltd has the smallest contribution of SO2 emissions, exceedances of the 24-hour NES occur at its western plant boundary which it shares with Ballance Agri Nutrients Ltd for both 2014 and 2016. The only source examined that did not contribute to any exceedance was Ballance’s Manufacture Plant, its distance from the plant boundary as well as its relatively low emission rate are the principal reasons.

Consent actions resulting from the findings of the emission modelling

As a result of dispersion modelling of SO2 having been undertaken, the three discharge consent holders are planning the following actions:

1. Ballance Agri-nutrients Ltd holds consent number 64800 authorising the discharge of particulate matter and volatiles to air. The consent contains Condition 13.1 which provides for the review of the consent to address any identified adverse effect.

Ballance was issued a Notice of Review on 21 February 2018. Ballance’s response to the review notice was postponed to allow for the completion and distribution of the SO2 Modelling Report and to better inform consent conditions (emission limits) going forward.

Page 85 of 120 Ballance is currently undertaking an independent reviewing of the findings of the emissions modelling report.

2. Lawters consent expires on 30 June 2020 and they have engaged Aurecon to prepare a new application. The modelling report will be used to inform their application and the new consent.

3. Waste Management are the smallest contributor of SO2. Waste Management have lodged an application for a renewal of their consent. A request for further information has been issued to address sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide emissions.

Page 86 of 120

Report To: Regional Direction and Delivery Committee

Meeting Date: 10 April 2019

Report From: Sarah Omundsen, General Manager, Regulatory Services

Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed

Executive Summary

This report seeks approval from the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee to gazette the Mount Maunganui Airshed.

Several exceedances of particulates (PM10) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) have been recorded by the recently expanded monitoring network in Mount Maunganui. The area is now in breach of the ambient air quality standards of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ). The NESAQ does not require any airsheds to be gazetted, however it is considered good practice to gazette any area that regularly exceeds the standards as a separate airshed.

Gazetting the airshed sets a clear, legally defined boundary that can be used as a management tool. This is particularly usefully if rules need to be introduced to reduce contaminant discharges; area specific rules will be more efficient and effective than general rules that apply across the whole region.

Staff have considered two options for the Committee’s consideration:

1. Option 1 – Gazette the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area as a separate airshed;

2. Option 2 – Retain the status quo with the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area managed as part of the Bay of Plenty Airshed.

Staff recommend Option 1. A draft airshed boundary is included as Appendix 1.

Recommendations

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed;

2 Approve EITHER:

Page 87 of 120 Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed

Option 1 - Approve an application to the Minister for the Environment to specify the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area as a separate airshed in the New Zealand Gazette (recommended option);

OR

Option 2 - Retain the status quo with the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area managed as part of the Bay of Plenty Airshed.

1 Purpose

This report sets out options for managing the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area and seeks approval from the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee (the Committee) to request that the Minister for the Environment gazettes the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area as a separate airshed. 2 Background

Air quality in the Mount Maunganui area has been steadily declining over the past several years, with ongoing concerns regarding odour, dust, and the use of methyl bromide in the area. The area includes a range of land uses and activities including light and heavy industry, commercial ventures, and the large area of the Port of Tauranga.

Assessing air quality in a complex operating environment such as Mount Maunganui is difficult, due to multiple sources of each contaminant in the area. An expanded monitoring network was put in place in late 2018. Several exceedances of the ambient standards of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ) have been recorded since, which are summarised in the table below:

Table 1: Exceedances of ambient standard of NESAQ to date Date Monitor location Contaminant Concentration* 3 09/11/2018 Whareroa Marae PM10 61 µg/m 3 11/12/2018 Whareroa Marae PM10 55 µg/m 3 17/12/2018 Whareroa Marae PM10 63 µg/m 3 5/01/2019 De Havilland Way PM10 63 µg/m 3 1/02/2019 De Havilland Way PM10 59 µg/m 3 5/02/2019 Rail Yard South PM10 70 µg/m 3 5/03/2019 Rail Yard South PM10 62 µg/m 3 22/01/2019 Rata Street SO2 363 µg/m 3 24/01/2019 Rata Street SO2 574 µg/m 3 28/01/2019 Rata Street SO2 357.1 µg/m 351.5 µg/m3 * For PM10 the limit is 50 µg/m3 (over 24 hours) with one exceedance/year permitted; for SO2 the limit is 350 µg/m3 (over 1 hour) with nine exceedances allowed a year, with no exceedances allowed above 570 µg/m3 (over 1 hour)

2 Page 88 of 120 Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed

Due to the number of exceedances recorded, the Mount Maunganui area is now in breach of the NESAQ for both SO2 and PM10.

Regional Council has an extensive work programme underway, first to identify the sources of the contaminants, and then to reduce the amount of contaminants being discharged. Further detail of this programme is provided in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area Update also included in this agenda. 3 Standards and regulations of the NESAQ

3.1 Airsheds

An airshed is defined in the NESAQ as either a gazetted airshed (specified by the Minister for the Environment (the Minister) in the Gazette as a “separate airshed”) or the area of a region of a regional council excluding any gazetted area.

The Bay of Plenty region currently has two airsheds; the gazetted Rotorua Airshed and the default Bay of Plenty Airshed which includes the rest of the region. There is no regulation in the NESAQ that requires an area to be gazetted as a separate airshed, even if it is in breach.

There is a common perception that regulations of the NESAQ do not apply until an airshed is gazetted. This is not the case. All airsheds, whether gazetted or not, must meet the ambient standards of the NESAQ.

3.2 Sulphur dioxide

Regulation 21 of the NESAQ states that a consent authority must decline an application for a resource consent to discharge sulphur dioxide if it is likely to cause a breach of the standard.

This regulation has been in force since 2004, and applies when an airshed is either already in breach, or where the discharge to be allowed by the resource consent will cause a breach.

Modelling of the three current resource consents to discharge SO2 indicates that if all consent holders discharged to their full capacity, the area would breach the standard. Therefore the area is over allocated for SO2 based on industry emissions alone.

These consents are all due to expire in 2019/2020. Two replacement consents have been applied for and a third application is expected. Staff are giving careful consideration to these applications.

3.3 PM10

Regulation 17 of the NESAQ states that a consent authority must decline an application for a resource consent to discharge PM10 if it is likely to cause a breach of the standard in a polluted airshed, unless the authority is satisfied that the applicant can offset their discharge by removing another source of PM10. This regulation comes into force once an airshed is deemed polluted. An airshed is deemed polluted when it has more than one exceedance of PM10 per year, for five years.

The Mount Maunganui area does not meet the requirement of a polluted airshed, therefore offsets are not required at this stage.

3 Page 89 of 120 Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed

4 Regulatory framework for shipping emissions

These early data indicate that shipping emissions contribute a substantial discharge of SO2 to the Mount Maunganui area. Three exceedances (including one breach) of the SO2 standard recorded at Rata Street, were most likely due to a single ship in port at the time.

Regional councils have a role under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) to manage discharges of contaminants to air, including in the Coastal Marine Area. However, shipping emissions are currently carved out from this role by the Resource Management (Marine Pollution) Regulations 1998. These regulations state that no regional rule relating to a discharge of shipping emissions may be included in a regional coastal plan.

This is due to New Zealand acceding to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) but not acceding to Annex VI which controls shipping emissions. The Ministry of Transport has consulted on whether New Zealand should accede to Annex VI and the Regional Council has submitted in support. The outcome of the consultation is due in July 2019.

If New Zealand does accede to Annex VI, the carve out may be removed, allowing regional councils to regulate shipping emissions. However, regardless of whether this occurs, ships will be required to switch to cleaner fuel while in port or to access shore power. This will most likely address the SO2 exceedances from shipping emissions, without further action required from the Regional Council. 5 Options for a Mount Maunganui Airshed

Given the air quality concerns in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area and requirements under the NESAQ, staff have assessed two options for the Committee’s consideration:

 Option 1 – Gazette the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area as a separate airshed

 Option 2 – Retain the status quo with the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area managed as part of the Bay of Plenty Airshed.

5.1 Option 1: Gazette a Mount Maunganui Airshed (recommended option)

If the Committee agrees to proceed with this option, an application to the Minister for the Environment will be made to specify the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area as a separate airshed in the New Zealand Gazette.

5.1.1 Advantages and benefits

The key benefit of this option is that it establishes the Mount Maunganui area as a separate airshed to the Bay of Plenty Airshed. A gazetted airshed has a clear, legally defined boundary which can be used as a management tool. In particular should the need arise to use rules to manage air discharges, they can be drafted to apply only to the gazetted area. This allows for specific, targeted rules which are more efficient and effective than general, region wide rules.

There is also an expectation within the community, and to a certain extent from the Ministry for the Environment, that when an area is in breach of the ambient standards,

4 Page 90 of 120 Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed

it is gazetted as a separate airshed. Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed meets these expectations and is consistent with good practice.

Gazetting an airshed also sends a clear message to the community that the air quality in the Mount Maunganui area is a significant issue that the Regional Council is committing to investigating and addressing.

5.1.2 Costs and risks

Gazetting an airshed will create concerns in the industrial community. These stem from the commonly held misperception that gazetting an airshed triggers additional requirements.

A key concern is that once a gazetted airshed is in place, this will limit an increase in shipping capacity including cruise ships. This is not the case. As discussed in section 4, managing shipping emissions are not part of the Regional Council’s role. A change to this role requires a change of national legislation and gazetting an airshed will not impact this.

Another concern is that gazetting an airshed will lead to a requirement to offset new discharges of PM10. As discussed in section 3.3, regulation 17 applies regardless of whether an airshed is gazetted or not. The offset requirement comes into force once an airshed is “polluted” with more than one exceedance of PM10 for five years. Mount Maunganui is not a polluted airshed at this stage.

The final key concern is that there will be a restriction on expansion and development once an airshed is gazetted. At this stage, the Mount Maunganui area is overallocated for SO2. As discussed in section 3.2, no new consents can be granted, and staff are looking carefully at the existing consents. This restriction applies due to Regulation 22 which applies to any airshed. Therefore, gazetting the Mount Maunganui area as a separate airshed will not change this status.

5.2 Option 2 – Retain the status quo

The NESAQ does not require a regional council to gazette any area as a separate airshed. If the Committee select this option, the Mount Maunganui area would remain as part of the Bay of Plenty Airshed.

5.2.1 Advantages and benefits

Gazetting an airshed creates considerable concern for certain members of the community. Their understanding is that once an airshed is gazetted, this will limit shipping and restrict industry expansion.

This concern stems from a misunderstanding that gazetting an airshed will bring additional regulations into force. Although this is not the case, retaining the status quo is likely to alleviate these concerns. Communication and education for businesses and industry will be required to ensure that all stakeholders understand that all requirements of the NESAQ will still apply, regardless of whether a separate Mount Maunganui Airshed is gazetted.

5.2.2 Costs and risks

Addressing the air quality issue in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Area may require specific rules to be put in place to reduce emissions. Without the clearly defined

5 Page 91 of 120 Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed

boundary of a gazetted airshed, these rules would apply regionally, rather than specific to the Mount area of concern, which a) reduces their efficiency and effectiveness and b) potentially unnecessarily impacts communities in other parts of the region.

Although there is no requirement to gazette an airshed where it is in breach of the standards, it is considered best practice. The status quo is inconsistent with community and Ministry for the Environment expectations. It is also inconsistent with the approach used for the Rotorua Airshed which has been gazetted since 2005.

6 The recommended Mount Maunganui Airshed

The Minister does not direct councils to gazette airsheds – it is up to each council to identify and gazette airsheds if they decide such an approach is appropriate. It is unusual for the Minister to amend or decline a request to gazette an airshed.

There is no standard approach to the rationale for gazetting an airshed and approaches vary across the country. For example, Waikato Regional Council has 21 gazetted airsheds and only 7 are currently monitored. Otago Regional Council has gazetted Otago Airshed 1, which is made up of six separate towns and only three of those towns are monitored year round.

Canterbury has adopted the most commonly used approach with eight towns gazetted as airsheds, all with continuous monitoring.

Staff have prepared a draft outline of the Mount Maunganui Airshed as included in Appendix 1. The draft airshed consists of Sulphur Point, the airport, the Port of Tauranga and its shipping berths, as well as all industrial sites in the Mount Maunganui area. Criteria for inclusion are a combination of land-use, zoning, type of activities carried out on site and the potential to discharge contaminants of concern.

The airshed also includes three key affected parties; residents of De Havilland Way Hangers, Whareroa Marae, and the Tauranga Bridge Marina. Although they are unlikely to be sources of contaminants, these parties will need to be included in any discussions and actions therefore their inclusion in the airshed is appropriate.

7 Implications for Māori

There are a number of Māori affected by contaminant discharges to air in the Mount Maunganui area including Ngāi Te Rangi iwi and affiliated hapū, particularly those with connections to Whareroa Marae, residents around Taiaho Place, people attending events in the area, and children at the marae Kohanga Reo.

Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed will have no direct implications for Māori. The Regional Council has already been working with tangata whenua to monitor and manage the adverse effects of air contaminants, and this approach will not change.

However, as discussed above, gazetting the airshed will make the introduction of targeted rules (if any) more straightforward. This in turn, will lead to more effective and efficient management of discharges to reduce the adverse effects on the Māori community.

6 Page 92 of 120 Options Analysis for Gazetting the Mount Maunganui Airshed

8 Next Steps

If the Committee accept the recommendations, staff will prepare all necessary materials and send these to the Minister for the Environment at the first available opportunity.

The timeline of when the airshed would be gazetted is uncertain as it depends upon the availability of the Minister. The airshed boundary takes legal effect one month after gazetting. Staff estimate that the earliest possible date that the gazetted airshed would be in place is June 2019.

9 Budget Implications

9.1 Current Year Budget

The administrative cost of applying to the Minister to gazette the Mount Maunganui Airshed is included in the current budget.

9.2 Future Budget Implications

There are no future budget implications from this decision.

10 Community Outcomes

This item/project directly contributes to the A Healthy Environment Community Outcome in the Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

Karen Parcell Senior Policy Analyst (Natural Resources) for General Manager, Regulatory Services

1 April 2019 Click here to enter text.

7 Page 93 of 120

Page 94 of 120

APPENDIX 1

Draft Mount Maunganui Airshed

Page 95 of 120

Page 96 of 120 Page 97 of 120

Page 98 of 120

Report To: Regional Direction and Delivery Committee

Meeting Date: 10 April 2019

Report From: David Phizacklea, Regional Development Manager

Approval of the Amended Pre-Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan

Executive Summary

The Regional Direction and Delivery Committee adopted the Pre-operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan at its meeting on 30 October 2018, to refer to the Minister of Conservation for final approval to then become operative.

Since then staff have been working with the Department of Conservation on behalf of the Minister. Department of Conservation has recently advised on four matters that require addressing before they can recommend the plan to the Minister for her approval.

The plan has been amended to give effect to the matters raised. Specifically, wording omitted from a consent order granted by the Environment Court and reference to Council not requiring coastal occupation charging. The plan requires re-adopting by the Committee on behalf of Council to enable the updated plan to proceed to the Minister.

The amended plan is provided as a supporting document to the agenda.

Recommendations

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Approval of the Amended Pre-Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan;

2 Resolves not to charge for occupation of the coastal marine area, pursuant to section 62A of the Resource Management Act 1991.

3 Adopts the amended Pre-Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan (version 10.2, April 2019) and recommends it to the Minister of Conservation for approval.

1 Purpose

The purpose of the report is to seek approval to re-adopt the second generation Bay of Plenty Regional Coastal Environment Plan for referral to the Minister of Conservation for approval.

Page 99 of 120 Approval of the Amended Pre-Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan

2 Background

The Committee at its meeting on 30 October 2018 had adopted the pre-operative version of the Regional Coastal Environment Plan, which was referred to the Minister of Conservation for her approval in December 2018. At that time representatives from the Department of Conservation on behalf of the Minister indicated the approval period could take between four to six months.

The Department has since provided its feedback and has raised four matters for Council to address and/or respond to. 3 Matters Raised by the Department of Conservation

3.1 Consent orders

One of the matters raised was whether all of the wording amendments from the 24 consent orders granted by the Environment Court over the past 3 years have been included correctly in the plan. Staff have since confirmed that in respect to the mangrove consent order not all provisions were included in the version adopted by the Regional Direction & Delivery Committee on 30 October 2018 and referred to the Minister for approval in December 2018. The Plan has now been updated to include that direction from the Environment Court.

Specifically, this relates to additional amendments to: (a) Policy NH 8 (b) Policy DD 20 (c) Rule DD 18 (d) Rule DD 19 & Table 1 (e) Rule DD 21.

There is also a minor amendment required to the advisory note to Policy NH 11(2).

3.2 Outstanding appeals

The Department of Conservation has raised reservations about making a recommendation to the Minister to approve only part of the Approved Plan under Clause 3A of Schedule 1, because not all inquiries into the Plan have been finally resolved by the Environment Court. Staff have been working with DOC to reach agreement that these outstanding appeals (Matakana Island Barrier – ONFL 5 and Marine Spatial Planning) are discrete issues that can be effectively be separated from the remainder of the proposed plan.

The Marine Spatial Planning appeal has an interim Environment Court decision that staff are working with appeal parties to develop provisions that will be inserted into the plan. Given the area where these will apply is an entirely new area with its own set of discrete set of provisions, there should be no concern that making the balance of the amended plan operative might affect or undermine the final resolution of the Marine Spatial Planning Topic. Even if further changes were ultimately required to provisions which had already been approved, as a result of the Court’s final decision, an updated version of the Plan would be submitted for approval including any new provisions arising from the final decision.

2 Page 100 of 120 Approval of the Amended Pre-Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan

3.3 Matakana Island Barrier – ONFL 5

The Environment Court had determined in its 2017 decision that the entire Matakana Island forested sand barrier is an Outstanding Natural Features & Landscape. The Court directed amendment of Schedule 3 of the Plan (attributes and values descriptions) to align with the amended mapping. The parties are awaiting a decision from the Court on the wording of the ONFL 5 entry in Schedule 3, which is now eight months overdue.

The Minister only approves those parts of the plan that relate to the coastal marine area. The outstanding decision on the Matakana Appeal only relates to land outside the coastal marine area and to provisions that are not regional coastal plan provisions. Accordingly, the Matakana Appeal should not preclude the Minister from giving her approval to the remainder of the Plan once the plan has been approved.

The ONFL 5 entry in Schedule 3 is geographically discrete. As with the Marine Spatial Planning Topic, there should be no concern that making the balance of Schedule 3 operative might affect or undermine the final resolution of this appeal.

In taking a conservative approach, the entry for ONFL 5 has been removed from the amended version of the plan with a placeholder notation that states:

“The entry for ONFL 5 (Matakana Island Coastal Edge) is subject to a final decision of the Environment Court following interim decision [2017] EnvC147. Once the final decision is available, the wording of ONFL 5 confirmed by the Environment Court will be incorporated into the Plan and submitted for adoption by the Regional Council and then approved by the Minister”.

3.4 Coastal Occupation Charges

The Department of Conservation considers that Policy SO 10 does not satisfy the requirements of s64A of the Resource Management Act 1991 because it does not include an express statement that no coastal occupation chargers will apply. As part of the plan development process the Regional Direction & Delivery Committee, in October 2013 and April 2014, considered whether to include a charging regime in the notified plan, as required by s64A (1), but determined that further investigations were required before that occurred. The notified plan (through Policy SO 10) records this, but does not expressly state that no charging regime will apply in the interim.

Therefore the following statement has been inserted into Part 4 (Activity-based policies and rules) under Structures and Occupation of Space in the Coastal Marine Area. The inserted statement reads:

“The Council has the power to impose chargers for occupation of the coastal marine area, provided the charging regime is included in its regional coastal plan. The Council has decided not to include a charging regime in the regional coastal land at this time. However this may occur in the future if considered appropriate following and investigation under Policy SO 10”.

3.5 Possible Missing Consent Order

The Department of Conservation had queried whether Consent Order 18 was missing. However Consent Order 18 had been included by the Environment Court in Consent Order 21 and DOC had been provided this information. This addresses their initial query.

3 Page 101 of 120 Approval of the Amended Pre-Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan

4 Budget Implications

4.1 Long Term Plan Alignment

Making the Regional Coastal Environment Plan operative and implementing the plan is provided for in the Regional Planning Activity in the Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

4.2 Current Budget Implications

This work is being undertaken within the current budget for the Regional Planning Activity in Year 1 of the Long Term Plan 2018-2028. There is a budget of $166,000 for the current financial year, excluding staff time.

4.3 Future Budget Implications

Implementation of the second generation Regional Coastal Environment Plan is provided for in Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028 once the Plan is operative. There is a budget of $159,000 in Year 2 of the LTP and $67,900 is Year 3. This is to meet commitments given in the plan and likely future plan changes in relation to aquaculture, coastal hazard risk and the management of the coastal marine area.

5 Community Outcomes The development and completion of the second generation Regional Coastal Environment Plan directly contributes to the ‘Healthy Environment’ community outcome in the Council’s Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

Michal Akurangi Senior Planner (Coastal) for Regional Development Manager

1 April 2019 Click here to enter text.

4 Page 102 of 120 SUPPORTING DOCUMENT - Pre Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan (Amended)

Please note this document is provided in Stellar Library and on Council's website

Page 103 of 120 Page 104 of 120 SUPPORTING DOCUMENT - Pre Operative Regional Coastal Environment Plan Maps

Please note this document is provided in Stellar Library and on Council's website

Page 105 of 120 Page 106 of 120 Receives Only – No Decisions

Report To: Regional Direction and Delivery Committee

Meeting Date: 10 April 2019

Report From: Chris Ingle, General Manager, Integrated Catchments

Integrated Catchment Management Update

Executive Summary

This report provides an update on the operational activities of the Integrated Catchment Management teams across the region.

The intent of this regular update is to provide the Committee with operational updates on the specific biosecurity, biodiversity, engineering, rivers and drainage and land management work of Integrated Catchments staff teams.

Recommendations

That the Regional Direction and Delivery Committee:

1 Receives the report, Integrated Catchment Management Update;

1 Purpose

This report provides an update to the Committee on the operational activities of the Integrated Catchments teams across the region.

2 Regional Overview

2.1 Rivers and Drainage

National Asset Performance User Group Workshop

The Rivers and Drainage Assets Section organised and hosted the recent National Asset Performance User Group workshop 20-21 February 2019 in Rotorua. The user group consists of staff from regional and unitary councils throughout New Zealand who are responsible for flood risk management. The objective of the group is to develop and implement a national code of practice and provide a framework for assessing the performance of flood protection assets which is consistent across the country.

Page 107 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Figure 1: National Asset Performance workshop hosted by BOPRC's Rivers and Drainage Asset Team.

Environmental Code of Practice for Rivers and Drainage Maintenance Activities

The Environmental Code of Practice for Rivers and Drainage Maintenance Activities covers the maintenance activities undertaken by the Rivers and Drainage Operations Section on the major river and drainage schemes in the region. Its purpose is to set out the procedures that apply to all maintenance activities within the schemes. The code has been operational since 2001 and is now being reviewed to reflect current practices and procedures.

April 2017 Flood Repair Project

The flood repair project is now 35 percent complete with steady progress over the summer construction season as conditions and materials availability have allowed. A number of sites are underway in the Kaituna Catchment Control Scheme where rock is readily available. While work has been consistent in the Waioeka, Otara and Tauranga Rivers, the constrained rock supply has slowed progress in Rangitāiki, Tarawera and Whakatāne Rivers. As of 28 February, 185 repair sites were complete from a total programme of 520 sites. Continued engagement with key stakeholders for scheduled work and funding remains a priority.

Highlights for the project during the last reporting period include;

 Preparation of Claim 4 and 5 to the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management for infrastructure repair work including College Road work.

 Material Damage and Infrastructure Insurance progress payment received.

 Over 50 percent of high priority sites have been completed.

 College Road works have been completed (a short video will be provided at the meeting).

2 Page 108 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Kopeopeo Canal Remediation Project

As reported recently at Audit and Risk committee, significant progress has been made on the Kopeopeo Canal Remediation Project over the past few months with 2.8km of the 5.1km contracted canal length completed and approximately 25,000m3 of contaminated sediment pumped to the first containment site in large geofabric bags.

The water treatment plant has now been moved to the second containment site off Keepa Road between the Kopeopeo Canal and the Whakatāne River. This site was prepared with a lined containment cell to receive contaminant while the first stage of dredging was underway. Dredging to the second site commenced mid-February and is expected to be completed mid 2019. It is expected that around 40,000m3 of material will have been removed from the canal by the end of the project.

Figure 2: Geobags filled with contaminated sediment at Containment Site 1.

2.2 Coast Care

Coast Care are preparing for the upcoming planting season which starts in May. This year Coast Care volunteers and partners will plant 80,000 plants across the region, building on the restoration of both biodiversity and increase resilience.

Coast Care has had a number of tenders out for plant supply and programme delivery for the next three years which are being awarded. This will make sure the programme continues to provide a high level of service to the coastal communities of the region.

2.3 Biosecurity

Lake Ōkataina Hornwort Management

As part of the Hornwort Eradication Management Plan for Lake Ōkataina lake Biosecurity surveillance was completed for the presence of hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum). During the surveillance three small plants (less than 5m2 in size) were found at two sites. This is an encouraging result with hornwort sites decreasing from nine sites in 2010 to two sites during this round of surveillance.

3 Page 109 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Figure 3: 2010-2019 graph of hornwort sites.

Brown Bullhead Catfish Incursion Update

The discovery of Brown Bullhead Catfish in Lake Rotorua in December 2018 has resulted in a focus on netting in Lake Rotorua over the summer period. To date, 160 mature catfish have been caught across the lake stretching from the Ōhau Channel to Whittaker Road near the Rotorua CBD. The majority of the catfish caught have been male adults. Fewer females were caught, but there is potential for the catfish to breed in the lake.

Over 20,000 catfish have been caught in Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotorua over the 2018/2019 season, comparing to 10,000 at this time in the 2017/2018 season, despite the catch effort doubling - almost twice the number of nets have been set during the current season.

The Catfish Technical Advisory Group met in February: comprising scientists from Department of Conservation, NIWA, University of Waikato along with staff from Fish and Game, Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Rotorua Lakes Council. The advice was to continue the netting programme, but undertake pheromone bait trials and further investigate the potential impacts of catfish on the lakes.

The acoustic tracking trial is underway, with 30 catfish tagged in Lake Rotoiti, along with spawning disruption surveys undertaken by NIWA which aims to investigate and disturb spawning sites of catfish. eDNA water sampling has proven successful at determining the presence of catfish in enclosed bays where there are very high catfish numbers.

Te Arawa Lakes Trust are co-ordinating the volunteer netting programme which has resulted in over 2,000 catfish being caught by members of the public. The group of volunteers has grown to over 100 and has allowed for netting to be undertaken in Lakes Rotoiti, Rotorua, Rotoehu, Ōkāreka and Tarawera. The programme has provided valuable information to Regional Council while also engaging the public.

4 Page 110 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

A comprehensive communications campaign is underway targeting both local and out of town lake users. Advertisements are in place in magazines and online while a significant amount of collateral is being distributed by staff and volunteers over the summer months.

Figure 4: Locations in Lake Rotorua where netting has been undertaken during 2018/2019.

Figure 5: Locations in Lake Rotorua where catfish have been caught during 2018/2019.

Wallaby Contract Update

A “Request for Proposal” (RFP) for ground based wallaby control went out on the March 14. The closing date for proposals is 1 April and proposals will be reviewed and contracts negotiated with preferred suppliers during April. Control work should commence from May and be completed by end of July.

The RFP was set up to canvas contractors for innovative wallaby control methods. The site chosen for this work is just south of Mourea between Lake Rotorua and the south

5 Page 111 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

western shores of Lake Rotoiti. Representatives from the Ruahine-Kuharua and Paehinahina-Mourea Trusts (the owners of the land where the work will take place) will have to approve the wallaby control method(s) before work can commence.

The strategy behind choosing this location is to reduce wallaby numbers and minimise the risk of wallabies dispersing across the Ōhau Channel via the road bridge at Mourea.

Figure 6: Ground based wallaby control locations.

Tauranga Harbour Marine Biosecurity

Marine biosecurity surveillance has been completed at the Marinas, on moored vessels and of vessels which have recently arrived back in the region, or were new to the region. A total of 1,011 boat hulls have been inspected. Water sampling was undertaken for Environmental DNA analysis of Mediterranean fanworm. This will help to work out areas where fanworm may be present and enable the Biosecurity team to prioritise areas for further surveillance.

3 Catchment Manager’s Overview

3.1 Rotorua Lakes

Community

An Environment Plan has been signed with the Te Kōmiro O Te Utuhina Care Group to restore an area at Ōhinemutu along the shores of Ruapeka Bay, as well as a section of the Utuhina streambank. Pest plant control has been undertaken and the area will be planted with native plants during winter.

The Waiowhiro Stream Care Group has been continuing its great work through working bees focusing on weed control and litter clean ups. Two meetings were held to plan strategic weed control and planting in the coming season.

The Paradise Valley Catchment Group held a meeting where it was decided to investigate stormwater control options including detainment bunds. It is also planned to

6 Page 112 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

work with BOPRC staff to continue the removal of trees that have been identified as being in danger of falling into the stream. The third project looks at water quality sampling in the Ngongotahā stream, to determine contaminant loads in different parts of the stream.

A volunteer day was held 9 March in conjunction with Ruawāhia 2B Trust to control wildling pines on Mount Tarawera. Council staff, members of the public and Auckland Council volunteers from Hunua Regional Park participated in the day.

Koaro Monitoring

The water level in Lake Ōkāreka is now low enough to enable the monitoring of a known population of koaro in the Miller Road Wetland. This work will commence shortly.

Plan Change 10 Implementation

17 resource consents have been granted under Proposed Plan Change 10 and several more are being processed. Several properties over 40 hectares have also been confirmed as permitted activities.

Streambank Flood Repairs Progress

The work around Rotorua streams in the Upper Kaituna Scheme continues. Approximately 4000 tonne of graded rock armouring has been installed, including approximately 3,000 tonnes in the Ngongotahā Stream alone. Work continues to progress at pace.

A pictorial presentation of the recent repair work was shown at the Kaituna River Scheme Advisory Group meeting on 13 March 13. This can be found in the stellar library.

Councillors are invited to attend a field visit of the major repair sites, if desired.

Figure 7: Erosion repairs at Whakarewarewa Rugby Club on the Puarenga Stream.

3.2 Coastal Catchments

Focus Sub-Catchments Approach

7 Page 113 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Following Council’s ‘Fit for Purpose Review’ and the adoption of the Long Term Plan in 2018, the new Coastal Catchments Team is focusing our incentivising efforts into measurably improving water quality in degraded areas. Rather than applying grants to any property owner in the region, staff are working on a set of focus sub-catchments, based on where water and ecological indicators show that improvement is needed. The concept is that collective action by participating landowners in these sub catchments will result in measurable water quality improvements within a 2-5 year timeframe.

Community Efforts, Maketū Ōngatoro Wetland Society

For the past nine years the Maketu Ongatoro Wetland Society (MOWS) has been undertaking ecological restoration activities in various locations along the margins of Little Waihi and Maketu estuaries in partnership with Council and other agencies, funded through Environmental Programmes under the Kaituna Catchments Activity. Four separate Environmental Programmes cover protection and enhancement of Maketu spit, Newdick’s Beach, Dotterel Point and the Waihi Estuary saltmarsh. All of these sites are Priority Biodiversity Sites under our biodiversity programme. There are a number of threatened species protected by these programmes. These include Australasian bittern (Nationally Critical and resident at Little Waihī Wildlife Management Reserve), black-billed gull (Nationally Critical) and red-billed gull (Declining) which both nest at Maketū Spit.

The four Environmental Programmes work include pest plant control, comprehensive pest animal control, planting at some sites and a monitoring programme which includes birds, lizards, and vegetation. In the current financial year we are spending approximately $67,000 across these programmes. This work is intended to continue through re-negotiated Environmental Programmes when the current agreements expire. MOWS produce an annual report at the end of each year and the 2018 report can be provided to councillors if they are interested.

Figure 8: An adult female shore skink, Oligosoma smithi, at Newdicks beach. (Photo: Moniqua Nelson- Tunley).

8 Page 114 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Figure 9: Monitoring Australasian bittern.

Ballance Farm Environment Awards

The winners for the Ballance Farm Environment Awards have been announced. There were five finalists and five activities including avocados, kiwifruit plants, berries, dairying, and sheep and beef. The overall winners were Fraser and Katherine McGougan who are dairy farming in Tāneatua. The runners up were Rick and Rose Powdrell, who have a sheep and beef farm in Te Puke. Both properties have agreements with Bay of Plenty Regional Council to support their improvement works.

Mussel Restoration Trial

The mussel restoration trial project in Ōhiwa Harbour is progressing well with good community support and some promising results with new spat caught on the ropes. A challenge to be worked through are Sea Stars being kept out of the caged areas of mussels. Sea Stars are a predatory species and although a natural part of the harbour ecosystem, their numbers have exploded and they are having a serious impact on mussel beds within the harbour.

Rangitaiki Sub-Catchment

Over the summer, 11 additional water quality monitoring sites in the Rangitāiki catchment have each been sampled. The sites range between Waiohau and Rangitāiki in the southern part of the catchment. This data fills gaps in our current monitoring network and will be added to current data collection sites to give a clearer picture of what is happening to the water as it travels from its origins to the ocean. It is hoped this additional information will be repeated next summer to give a longer time series. This data will be reported as part of our science reporting programme.

9 Page 115 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Effluent Systems Field Days

Approximately 40 people from Regional Council and farmers from the eastern Bay of Plenty attended two field days to learn about new high tech effluent systems. Both these properties and effluent systems are of significant value for exposing landowners to new options, to give them information about systems that are in operation and have farmers telling farmers the pros and cons of their systems, particularly for those who are planning for upgrades in the near future as their consents for older systems expire.

Uretara Sub-Catchment, Katikati

A landowner meeting was held on 5 March to share information on the bacterial contamination of the Uretara Stream and to get feedback from landowners. A catchment action plan has been drafted. Because avian is the dominant E. coli source in the lower catchment, staff are working with landowners to understand wildfowl population dynamics as well as understanding the use of poultry manure as a fertiliser.

Kaiate Falls Sub-Catchment Progress update

Land Management staff have been working closely with the largest landowner above the falls to come to an agreement to finalise a draft Environmental Programme. This property has been particularly challenging in terms of finding an agreed solution.

A farm advisor has been assisting the landowner to determine the best course of action for this property. The property is complex and there are no straight-forward solutions to fencing off the steep hillsides, gullies and multiple tributaries flowing to the main streams. The landowner has ideas around future proofing the property at the same time as doing the protection work and we are trying to encompass all of this.

The current approach is entirely voluntary, using (and maximising) the incentives available in Council’s Integrated Catchment’s environmental programmes. Grazing rule enforcement (rule 7) has been looked at, but not pursued at this stage.

The cost of achieving the level of protection required on a property of this size and topography is estimated at $250,000. This includes water reticulation, fencing all the tributaries, native planting and pest plant control. Twelve hectares of land will be retired and approximately 10 km of fencing would be needed. This includes 5 km of new fencing and 5 km of repairing or altering fence lines.

10 Page 116 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Figure 10: The Kaiate catchment is steep and riparian fencing will be difficult.

Additional water quality monitoring is being undertaken to determine the load of E. coli coming from the Otawera stream, other tributaries and from the bush block. This additional monitoring was added as a request from the landowner. It will help us to build a better picture and see what the E.coli levels are showing higher up in the catchment, and specifically what is coming out of the bush block before entering the property. This will complement work by the Science Team over the summer which is looking at contaminant loads. Previous work has given us good information on which tributaries have the highest concentrations of bacteria and the type of animals it was coming from (mostly ruminant) but we had little information about the contribution of each tributary to the overall contaminant load at the swimming site.

The other high priority property in the catchment is a Māori trust block which is subject to a Ngā Whenua Rāhui kawenata. Ngā Whenua Rāhui are working with the owners to ensure that the conditions of the kawenata are met and stock are removed.

Staff are preparing a more comprehensive report on the progress made in the Kaiate Falls catchment, documenting in detail the work done since the last catchment report was brought to the RD&D committee in April 2018.

Pasture Management in a Volatile World Field Day

A field day was held as part of a Sustainable Farming Fund project looking at pasture management for hill country farming. The field day was held on a dry stock farm in the Lower Kaimais and was an opportunity for farmers to hear first-hand from the results of the study. The attendees heard about the science and benefits from pasture management on hill country and took away with them practical knowledge on how to implement this into their own farm systems.

Kaimai Mamaku Ranges Forests Forum

The Kaimai Mamaku Ranges Forests Forum has established a steering group and three project groups covering biodiversity, water and people. They are in the process of establishing themselves as a charitable trust. This will allow the group to apply for

11 Page 117 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

funding, including pest control funding from the Predator Free 2050 fund. The biodiversity group is working through a process to develop a pest animal management plan for the Kaimai Mamaku with help from pest control experts, part funded by Council.

This pest animal management plan ties in with the Council’s Draft Annual Plan funding proposal for the Kaimai Forest, where it is expected the Department of Conservation will match proposed funding from the Regional Council. This plan enables comprehensive predator management in the forests, which optimises the opportunity for biodiversity outcomes in this high priority biodiversity site.

Current regional council funding for biodiversity outcomes in the Kaimai Forests is around $85,000 per year at discrete forest sites. This might increase to an average of $300,000 per year, if the matching funds materialise.

Upper Wairoa River

An investigation into the water quality in the upper Wairoa catchment was undertaken over the summer months by our summer students and the results are currently being analysed. This was prompted by highly variable bacterial contamination results at the McLarens Falls swimming site.

Agreements to protect three new priority biodiversity sites are in varying stages of planning and it is anticipated that two of these agreements will be signed this financial year.

Parawhenuamea Stream, Te Puke

In partnership with Tapuika, staff are planning to restore the natural flow of the Parawhenuamea stream at Waitangi just east of Te Puke, including investigating a new diversion channel to prevent unwanted additional flooding on downstream properties.

Kaituna River Re-Diversion

The Kaituna River re-diversion project continues to track on budget and ahead of schedule due partly to the fine weather, and partly to the good work of J Swap Contractors. Over half the contracted construction works have now been completed. One culvert will be commissioned in late May 2019 to restore some freshwater flows to the estuary for the remainder of the construction period. The next stage of commissioning will occur in the summer of 2019/2020 (about six months earlier than scheduled), and full commissioning 12 months after that, following monitoring.

This winter, approximately 50,000 plants will be put into the newly restored estuarine wetland area known as Te Pa Ika, and there will be opportunities for community involvement in that. Meetings with Tangata Whenua, the wider community and a group of 80 engineers involved with Engineering NZ were held during the past month.

12 Page 118 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

Figure 11: Kaituna River re-diversion works looking from the new inlet down the new 60m wide diversion channel towards the diversion control structure in the far distance. 4 Implications for Maori

Integrated Catchment management staff work closely with Maori at both a governance level as well as an operational level across the region. At the governance level, several co-governance arrangements are in place and these have oversight of many of the work programmes our teams are delivering.

Operationally, staff work directly with iwi, hapū, marae and trusts on a number of restoration projects to improve the health of the land and water. Operational opportunities are identified through relationships that staff have with kaitiaki and resource managers. They are also identified through Hapu Management Plans, as staff use these documents to understand the priorities and areas of significance for hapū, throughout the catchments.

5 Budget Implications

5.1 Current Year Budget

This work is being undertaken within the current budgets for the Integrated Catchments, Flood Protection and Control and Resource Regulation and Monitoring activities in Year 1 of the Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

5.2 Future Budget Implications

There are no future budget implications.

13 Page 119 of 120 Integrated Catchment Management Update

6 Community Outcomes

This work directly contributes to all four of the Long Term Plan’s community outcomes: safe and resilient communities, a healthy environment, a vibrant region and freshwater for life.

Heidi Fraser Programme Coordinator Integrated Catchments for General Manager, Integrated Catchments

28 March 2019 Click here to enter text.

14 Page 120 of 120