Posted: 18 January 2007
Late run of marine farm comments expected
Time is running out for Northlanders to have their say on criteria to determine where new marine farms are placed in Northland.
With a 3 ½ -month consultation period due to end at 4.30pm on 14 February, the Northland Regional Council (NRC) has so far received just seven submissions on the proposed marine farm criteria and supporting documents.
The latest consultation is part of a formal Council process to change its Regional Coastal Plan to allow for Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs).
Councillor Peter Jensen, Chairman of the NRC’s Aquaculture Subcommittee, says legally new marine farms can now only be developed in areas formally designated as AMAs by Regional Councils.
Councillor Jensen says the latest consultation is designed to ensure evaluation criteria used to consider AMAs applications under the Council’s Invited Private Plan Change (IPPC) process are as robust as possible. Under the IPPC approach, would-be marine farmers will have to pay the costs of having areas zoned as an AMA, a move expected to save ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cr Jensen says Councillors and staff visited Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Whangarei and Dargaville late last year to meet with members of the public at informal aquaculture ‘drop in’ days and provide more information about the proposed changes.
“Based on past experience, the Council expects the number of submissions on ‘Proposed Plan Change 4’ to grow over the next few weeks as the 14 February deadline looms.”
Meanwhile, at the same time it is seeking those submissions, the NRC is also seeking public comment on related aquaculture documents; its proposed ‘threshold test’ and maps.
“These are internal decision-making tools that will help the Council decide whether a request for an Invited Private Plan Change to establish an AMA should be rejected or publicly notified.”
The threshold test document, together with the Plan Change 4 document, lists the information would-be marine farmers will be expected to provide when they make requests for private plan changes
The maps – in two sets - will be referred to when the Council processes private plan change requests.
Councillor Jensen says the NRC encourages anyone with an interest to make submissions to ensure the public’s views are represented as widely as possible.
“It’s important to remember that submissions influence the Council by the strength of their arguments, not the weight of numbers. The most effective submissions are those which make clear which section of the document they are responding to, what specifically it is they want to see changed in that section and why, as well as possibly proposing an alternative.”
He says submissions must be in writing and must be signed for Council records.
“You may also send an electronic version of your submission by email to mailroom@nrc.govt.nz however, legally we can only accept electronic submissions if you have provided a unique electronic signature or also sent us a signed hard copy.”
Further information on the proposals – including submission forms and guidelines – is available from the Council’s website www.nrc.govt.nz