Councillors fail GMO test

Environment Southland councillors submit to National Environmental Standard


BRITTANY PICKETT

Last updated 05:00, August 13 2015
Environment Southland will make a submission on a government proposal to create a nationally consistent approach to managing plantation forestry, but agreeing on the wording was not smooth sailing.

Councillors debated an amendment to its submission on the proposed National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry at a council meeting on Wednesday.

The proposed NES would replace regional and district councils' existing district and regional plan rules for managing plantation forestry, creating a nationally consistent approach.

The submission outlines Environment Southland's concerns that the national environmental standard would have a huge impact on the rules the council has in place to manage forestry in Southland and says implementation of the standard could affect the management of regionally specific issues, such as implementing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and the potential loss of further biodiversity values.

However, councillor Robert Guyton was concerned the council was ignoring an important part of the national environmental standard.

The proposal includes the permitted planting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

READ MORE: Guidelines an attack on democracy - councillor

Policy and Planning manager Anita Dawe said the council did not have a say on whether GMOs could be planted either way because it was not allowed for in the regional policy statement.

Dawe believed land use restrictions came under the jurisdiction of district councils.

Councillor Neville Cook questioned Guyton's need for an amendment.

"How would we know if such material would be brought in? Are we going to have border security? I don't think it is enforceable on a regional level."

Most councillors agreed it should remain a central government decision.

Councillors Jan Riddell and Guyton both proposed amendments to the submission, asking for a statement about the concerns of the council about GMO planting being a permitted activity.

It was time the council had an opinion on such matters, Riddell said.

"I think that it is about time that this council took a lead on this in the community and formed an opinion on GMO products."

Both amendments were scrapped, with only three council members voting for the amendments to be added.

Following the meeting, Guyton said he was very disappointed the council failed to even try to retain the powers it had to act on behalf of Southlanders.

He believed the council should shoulder the responsibility for deciding on local issues and not "fob" it off to government, he said.

"The majority of the councillors today showed they were unwilling to represent the views of Southland people on genetic engineering and instead preferred to let the government make the decision about whether Southland should lose its GMO-free status."

The sh*t hit the ...

There were fractious moments in the council debating chamber yesterday, some dodging and weaving, head-in-the-sanding and even and the excuse of 'God dunnit!' used in the argument about muck in our creeks and streams. Maurice Rodway fired up the farmers with his slideshow of images that showed soil and animal manure washing off paddocks and into the creeks, muddying and polluting them when they should have remained clean. The councillors-who-farm said, pshaw! You can't stop God's good rain, but Maurice and his band of merry men challenged the apparent inevitability of the despoliation from paddock run-off and said measures need to be taken and it was up to the council to lead the way. Nichol Horrel, who farms at Tuatapere, said' whaddaya gonna do, put God in the dock for the part She plays?' - or words to that effect (see the Southland Times article below) and Grant Hubber, a farmer also, felt it was 'just not do-able' to try to contain all of a farms soil and sh*t, and that the rain should shoulder the blame, not the farmer. The discussion rolled on, like a knob of sheep dung rolling down a slope and into a creek. In the end, it was decided that more of this rough talk needed to be done at a later date, once those most affected by the problem (all of us!) had cooled down. Great fun. Here's the article by Kimberley Crayton-Brown.

"An Environment Southland councillor yesterday argued that its own winter grazing rules were not enough to prevent contamination of freshwater in the region.
Cr Maurice Rodway, in a presentation to the committee meeting yesterday, suggested a new rule be introduced that would prohibit stormwater running into any river or modified water course if it contained certain levels of sediment, faecal coliforms or dissolved reactive phosphorus.
His suggestion divided councillors, with some saying runoff would be impossible to stop as some contamination was caused by heavy rainfall.
Environmental management committee chairman Nicol Horrell said significant rainfall events were an act of God.
"... are you going to prosecute God?"
Cr Robert Guyton replied he was concerned that councillors might be laying the blame at God's feet.
The rainfall was not an issue, and while it was part of the problem it was the council's job to ensure the effects do not result in the kind of things that Cr Rodway showed in his slideshow.
"Saying it is impossible is a very poor attitude to take, and I don't think it's impossible at all, that's our job," Cr Guyton said.
Cr Ross Cockburn said the council needed to get consistency across the whole province for the 3m fencing rule for stock near waterways. "... once we get consistency in place, I think we'll find an improvement."
Cr Rodway's presentation also showed examples of wintering on slopes and runoff around the region that involved dairy, sheep, cattle, deer and swale paddocks.
The presentation kicked off a wider debate among councillors who thought policing the issues was not possible, while others reacted strongly, saying it could be dealt with.
Cr Brian Mason thought councillors needed to discuss the suggested new rule further before any decision on possible prosecutions was made.
- The Southland Times"

Gone fishin'

Cr Maurice Rodway must be feeling very disenchanted today, following the treatement he was meted yesterday by many of his fellow councillors.
Highest polling of all candidates and seemingly popular with his peers, Cr Rodway had put his hat into the ring for the position of Deputy Chairman of the council, but was denied that by the same block of voters that installed Cr Timms into the chairman's chair. Instead, Cr Nicol Horrell was swiftly selected, seemingly by arrangement and given the role. Cr Rodway addressed his fellow councillors before the vote, emphasising the desirability of having a representative from urban Southland to balance the rural chair and pointed out that his very strong support from the people of Invercargill was a real indication that his winning the position would meet with favour from the public.
I believe he was right in thinking that.