How we’ll prioritise the natural environment

The health of our society is directly linked to the health of our environment.

Waimakariri has diverse habitats that support a range of native animal and plant species, including some threatened. From coastal lagoons, to braided rivers and drylands, there is a range of rich biodiversity.

However, we are seeing these habitats damaged along with the rich resources they maintain.

The Council has a vision that ‘Our healthy and resilient natural environment sustains our ecosystems, our communities and our future’.

To deliver on this we have developed the Natural Environment Strategy—this prioritises local responses that promote environmental health with action focused on Council owned land.

The strategy has four main aims:

• Prioritise nature
• Connect people and nature
• Improve biodiversity knowledge
• Sustain and create resilient ecosystems.

Residents have said in recent Customer Satisfaction Surveys they would like the Council to show leadership by prioritising climate change, sustainability and environmental protection.

The Council believe this strategy will deliver on these wishes and help restore degraded natural environments. There are three options of public investment proposed.

Each option has a series of actions to support the natural environment but come in at different levels of investment and timing of projects.

All options will increase levels of service for the environmental outcome that land use is sustainable, biodiversity is protected and restored.

OPTIONS

A: Council’s preference

This option includes all 124 actions in the Natural

Environment Strategy Implementation Plan, such as:

• Ensuring all community members have access to ecological advice
• Enhancing the accessibility of natural environments by providing better physical access and toilets
• Developing more walking tracks at natural parks such as Ashley Gorge Reserve
• Planting and develop more reserves in the District
• Providing rangers to work with community groups, plant reserves and carry out pest and weed management
• Creating community and education events
• Providing a $10,000 annual contestable fund to support environmental groups
• Providing coastal access platforms for people with mobility issues
• Funding to develop the land at Lineside Road
• Part funding (with Department of Conservation) for a toilet at Coopers Creek to enable accessibility
• Providing staff to carry out legislative requirements and support landowners with biodiversity projects.

B: Legislative and important actions from the strategy

This option only includes all legislative and actions deemed very important in the Natural Environment Strategy Implementation Plan, such as:

• Providing staff to carry out legislative requirements and support landowners with biodiversity projects
• Creating community and education events
• Providing a $10,000 annual contestable fund to support environmental groups
• Providing coastal access platforms for people with mobility issues
• Provisional funding to develop the land at Lineside Road.

C: Continue work already underway

This option continues work we already have underway such as:

• Providing funding to develop land at Lineside Road
• Part funding (with Department of Conservation) for a toilet at Coopers Creek to enable accessibility
• Providing staff to carry out legislative requirements and support landowners with biodiversity projects.

Full detail for each of these options is available in the ‘implementation plan’ which you can view at the Documents tab on this project home page.

If there are other comments you would like to make about the Strategy we would love to hear from you. Please include these as part of your formal submission.