It also postponed any further work on SNAs until the Government finalises its national policy statement on indigenous biodiversity, which will set the SNA rules in concrete. But the planning team charged with writing the new district plan says there is no guarantee the national policy statement will be out before the new draft plan is due to go out for public consultation. “It is absolutely critical to have some rules in there . it would be unfair to landholders and the community if there is no indication of the provisions we will have,” principal planner Lois Easton said. It was not known how different the final version of the national policy statement might be from the draft, but Government officials had ruled out any “carve out” or exceptions for the West Coast.
Photo: 123RF
Members of the Te Tai o Poutini plan committee agonised over the issue for more than an hour at their meeting on Monday, trying to find ways to avoid slapping the significant natural area label on private land.
A majority of the committee sees the process as an attack on private property rights.
Last month the committee refused, by a narrow majority, to accept a desktop study it had commissioned, mapping SNAs across the region.
It also postponed any further work on SNAs until the government finalises its national policy statement on indigenous biodiversity which will set the SNA rules in concrete.
Tourist attractions or industrial sites? The future rules for West Coast ports have come under close scrutiny this week from the Tai o Poutini Plan Committee.
Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
Mayors, chairs, councillors and iwi are gradually working their way through every section of the Westland, Grey and Buller district plans, to come up with a revised document that rolls them into one.
The committee this week tackled performance standards for ports at Westport and Greymouth - and protecting the rights of port users emerged as their top priority.
Principal planner Lois Easton presented an update on the technical work her team had done to define port zones and draft rules for their operation.
A local councillor’s family were told to say their goodbyes after a stone hit him in the chest, causing massive internal bleeding, while he was operating a weed-eater on long grass on a public street.
Rushed to hospital in Greymouth, he underwent emergency surgery before being airlifted to Wellington for more.
The 26-year-old required 31 blood transfusions to keep him alive. To wake up knowing your whole body is full of other people s blood, and you ve literally lost your entire volume of blood with an internal injury and surgery, was surreal, he said.
The New Zealand Blood service says the amount Latham required equates to 31 individual blood donations.
It s a staggering amount, but not an isolated case. The Blood Service is now calling for people to consider becoming a donor in 2021. Blood only lasts 35 days, so that s why we constantly need donors to book and come in, spokesperson Asuka Burge said.