The report into council compliance, monitoring and enforcement by the Catalyst consultant Marie contains information from all 16 regional and unitary councils and is regarded as the most comprehensive report done since the Resource Management Act’s inception 27 years ago.
It cites the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, also known as Horizons, as having some of the lowest resourcing for consenting and enforcement staff.
It indicates the average number of full time enforcement staff nationally is 0.13 per 1000 people.
Manawatu-Wanganui has one of the lowest nationally at 0.04, second to bottom from neighbouring Wellington at 0.03.
Chairman Bruce Gordon defended the council’s enforcement horsepower because the authority has also faced flak in recent years about its effectiveness in enforcing consent breaches.
That included a case where Fish and Game took it to court and the court required council to call a halt to approving and processing consents for farming.
The council is also about to notify proposed plan change 2 to reset nitrogen leaching limits based on latest Overseer modelling after having to refuse farmers consent if they could not meet the original levels.
“We do run a very lean ship at council but do offer up extra resources as they are needed.
“One of the issues we face is how long it takes to get prosecutions to courts. We are moving from a relatively stable period to having more prosecutions under way,” he said.
Gordon also disputed the report’s concerns over chief executives’ involvement in prosecution cases.
“Given what these cases cost, which is between $70,000-$80,000, they should go to the top. It is normal practice to run prosecutions past chief executives.”
In 2017-18 the council recorded 64 formal actions against non-complying consent holders, compared to 626 in Northland and 118 in Southland.
Infringement fines issued were at the lower end of regional numbers, 23 against Northland’s 223 and Otago at 22.
Manawatu-Wanganui had no fines as a result of Resource Management Act convictions, alongside Gisborne and Wellington.
In neighbouring Hawke’s Bay the regional council is also lightly resourced for act enforcement with 0.06 staff per 1000 people. It also has chief executive James Palmer involved in prosecution decisions.
“The buck stops with the chief executive,” he said.
“We are looking at least $20,000 to $30,000 of ratepayers’ money to prosecute through the court.
“It is a big decision to proceed, with a lot of risks and is very much a politically neutral decision.”
The lighter enforcement staff numbers in part reflect the region’s low dairy concentration compared to Waikato or Southland.
“Most of our land use is in sheep and beef.
“However, we are increasing staff numbers as we implement the Tukituki Plan Change, which requires farm environment plans for the 340 farms in it. We also have two forestry officers starting July 1.”
Otago Regional Council also comes under fire for its below-average resourcing and for having struggled to meet its monitoring goals and having a weak internal policy framework.
It noted Otago is one of only a few councils to lack an enforcement policy.
It is, however, one of the most active enforcement councils, coming in as one of the top three for fines in 2017-18 with $233,050 dealt to individuals and corporates.
Its regulatory general manager Peter Winder said the council has already made good progress by increasing its compliance staff numbers and is revising how it prioritises act complaints.
The council has a significant recruitment drive under way in many areas, backed by full training programmes relating to investigation and enforcement.
