Anger over decision to exclude community from red zone committee

Thursday, 20 February 2025

A new interim council committee to govern the 602-hectare Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor will have no direct representative from the community.

Community leaders are angry at a decision not to include a community representative on a new committee to manage Christchurch’s river red zone.

They say the move goes against established agreements between Christchurch City Council and the Crown, but others argue a councillor can fill the spot.

The council decided this week to create an interim council committee to govern the 602-hectare Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor (ŌARC) and then eventually, form a charitable trust to take up the role.

The governance model was proposed by the ŌARC co-governance establishment committee – co-chaired by former Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel and Ngāi Tūāhuriri ūpoko Dr Te Maire Tau.

However, there was confusion over the membership of the interim committee.

Council staff recommended it consist of three representatives from Ngāi Tūāhuriri and three from the council - the mayor, the deputy mayor and a councillor who represents ŌARC communities.

The 602-hectare Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor was created when thousands of homes were red-zoned following the 2010/2011 earthquakes.

Two members of the nine-strong co-governance committee, Hayley Guglietta and Dr Cynthia Roberts, urged the council on Wednesday to appoint a representative from the community instead of a councillor.

The pair felt strongly that someone who carried the kaupapa of the area - the history, love and local knowledge acquired through long involvement - was needed.

“This is not the same as an elected councillor who has city-wide responsibilities,” Roberts said.

Council citizens and community general manager Andrew Rutledge said the co-governance group was not able to reach a consensus on whether to include a community representative, so staff recommended the council membership should include elected members only.

But there was a lack of certainty at the meeting over what Ngāi Tūāhuriri had requested.

Rutledge said the rūnanga wanted the mayor and deputy mayor to be on the committee but were relatively silent on the third person because they did not see it as their position to make that call.

Avon Ōtākaro Network manager Hayley Guglietta is disappointed the council chose not to appoint a representative directly from the community for the new committee.

However, council chief executive Mary Richardson said it was her understanding Ngāi Tūāhuriri wanted it to be just the council and itself - the treaty relationship.

“Mana to mana is probably the material aspect of this,” Rutledge said earlier.

Cr Celeste Donovan, supported by Cr Sara Templeton, asked the council to include a community representative but the vote was lost 8-9.

Guglietta said after the meeting, she was incredibly disappointed given they had worked so hard to get community representation written into the Global Settlement Agreement.

The global settlement was a collaboration between the council and the Crown designed to provide certainty on earthquake regeneration projects and issues.

Ngāi Tūāhuriri ūpoko Dr Te Maire Tau says the new committee needs to be “small and tight”.

“It is a shame that both the debate and voting appeared to be politically motivated and not for the good of the city nor for the communities that have fought so hard for the ŌARC in the first place,” Guglietta said.

Ashley Campbell, who started the campaign to restore the red zone to nature after the 2011 earthquakes, said she was feeling sad, disappointed, and a bit angry at the council’s decision not to include a community person.

“The governance committee, which may last for several years, will be lesser for it.”

Tau said on Thursdayhe did not know the final make up of the committee.

He was the lead plaintiff in a Ngāi Tahu claim to gain greater control of fresh water in the South Island, which is being heard over the next eight weeks in the High Court at Christchurch.

However, Tau said the committee needed to be “small and tight”.

“I think in the end, it has to be the Christchurch City Council's community reps and the tribe on one side.”

At the meeting, Templeton said having a community member with a deep connection to the red zone, with the skills needed, rather than just being elected, would be of benefit to the group.

“There are plenty of community members out there with a whole pile of mana. Just because someone is from the community does not mean they don’t have mana.”

Cr Yani Johanson said it was essential the community was involved and he was concerned there was nothing in writing from the establishment committee about the membership.

Cr Sam MacDonald took issue with Johanson’s comment saying he could not question the integrity of council staff.

MacDonald asked mayor Phil Mauger to “rein him in or make him stop”.

Johanson said he was happy to withdraw the comment, but denied he was questioning staff integrity.

Cr Tim Scandrett said the majority of councillors have come from the community and he did not understand what the debate was.

Cr Kelly Barber said he was pleased to support the staff recommendation and he saw the ŌARC project as a practical way to reset the relationship with the council’s treaty party.

Mauger said on Thursday, no decision had been made on who the councillor would be but he would ask the three councillors whose wards cover the red zone to put their names forward.

Councillors to vote for a community representative were: Andrei Moore, Tyla Harrison-Hunt, Melanie Coker, Pauline Cotter, Tyrone Fields, Templeton, Johanson and Donovan.

Those against: Aaron Keown, Jake McLellan, Victoria Henstock, James Gough, Mark Peters, Mauger, Barber, MacDonald, and Scandrett.