Marlborough Environment Plan ready for public scrutiny

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

A chapter on aquaculture in the Marlborough Sounds remains on hold.

A highly-anticipated plan that will shape the management of Marlborough's environmental resources is to be released on Thursday.

Marlborough District Council environmental policy manager Pere Hawes said the Marlborough Environment Plan, which was the result of a decade of research, would be available to the public at 8am.

'It's a good step to get it out in the community and for people to consider it and provide feedback,' Hawes said.

'It's important at the end of the day that the plan reflects the community's views and values with respect to managing our natural and physical resources.'

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The Marlborough Environment Plan defined what activities were appropriate in the urban, rural and coastal environments.

It brought the Wairau/Awatere and Marlborough Sounds resource management plans, and the Marlborough Regional Policy Statement into one document.

Council regional planning and development committee chairman Trevor Hook said thousands of planning hours had gone into the preparation of the plan.

'This work has been going on during a time when Marlborough's economy and environment has been changing and pressure has come on land and water use.'

It was inevitable that aspects of the plan would generate further discussion within the community as there were many interest groups and individuals who would be directly affected, Hook said.

The plan would guide individual property owners on how they could use and develop their own property, he said.

'It must also provide sufficient guidance to business and industry so that our natural resources are used in a way that takes account of the future.'

The council had involved hundreds of people in the review of its planning documents and had developed some new approaches to some of the more difficult challenges, such as the use of freshwater.

Public feedback on the plan was welcome, Hook said.

'What we are trying to do with this review is to ensure we have sufficient guidance so that resource management decisions will enable growth while also ensuring that our natural and built resources are used and protected in a way that will meet the needs of the generations to come.'

The plan was scheduled to be released to the public in December but was pushed back by councillors to consider a 180-page bill detailing changes to the Resource Management Act.

The Marlborough Environment Plan was also expected to outline how aquaculture fitted into the sustainable management of the Marlborough Sounds for the next decade.

But at a publicly-excluded meeting in May councillors agreed to shelve the chapter temporarily.

Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman said more work was needed on some aquaculture provisions, and the council wanted to consider how its plan might be affected by central Government's forthcoming national direction on aquaculture.

Hard copies of the four volume document and submission forms would be available for viewing at Marlborough District Council offices in Picton and Blenheim, and at Marlborough District Libraries in Havelock, Rai Valley, Seddon, Ward and Blenheim.

The Marlborough Environment Plan and submission form would also be available to download from the Marlborough District Council website.

For the first time people could make a digital submission on the plan through the council website.

The council had made the decision to allow an extended period, beyond the statutory requirement, for people to make submissions.

The closing date for submissions is September 1, 2016.