Ele Ludemann: Option 3

My optimism that proposed changes to water rules would mean that Te Mano o Te Wai would be scrapped was premature:

The Taxpayers’ Union is warning that the Government’s freshwater consultation still leaves the door wide open for Te Mana o te Wai to keep driving up costs through the back door.

Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross, said:

“Te Mana o te Wai had towns like Alexandra and Clyde staring down $50,000-per-household bills. The Government was right to stop Otago’s regional plan, but there will be more where that came from if the concept isn’t scrapped entirely.”

“Removing Te Mana o te Wai from consent decisions is meaningless if it’s still baked into regional plans, because those are the very documents councils rely on when making those same decisions.”

“It makes no difference which part of the process is doing the blocking. Whether it’s in the plan or the consent stage, residents are still being tangled in red tape.”

“If a concept takes 350 words to define, and relies on six other woolly ideas to prop it up, it has no place in law.”

“Take mauri – the spiritual life force of water. It’s completely subjective, changes from region to region, and can’t be measured. That leaves councils exposed to costly legal challenges and constant uncertainty.”

“Amended or not, Te Mana o te Wai will still hold councils over a barrel. Until it’s scrapped entirely, the legal risk and the cost to ratepayers will only keep growing.”

The government has put forward three options:


Click to view

Click to view

Option three is the only one that won’t continue to be costly to councils, farmers and the country as a whole.

It’s the only one which will result in clear, consistent and well defined low.

Te Mana o te Wai, which translates as the mana of the water , is, as an email from Hobson’s Choice explains, a vague, randomly evolving concept, and the interpretation of what it means varies depending on which region, iwi, or hapu you are talking to.

It can’t be improved, it must be scrapped.

You can submit here. There’s no need to answer every question, you can just put your submission in the general comment section.

Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.