Woods Megan: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWoods Megan: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 17 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2272. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]12.Dr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram) to the Minister for the Environment: Has he along with the Minister of Local Government released for public consultation the discussion document on the statutory review of Environment Canterbury and options for regional governance as advised to do by November 2014 in the Briefing to Incoming Ministers; if so when?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment): The discussion document was approved by Cabinet on Monday and will be released by Louise Upston the Associate Minister of Local Government and I tomorrow. There were post-election changes in both portfolios and the Associate Minister of Local Government and I wanted to consult with the 10 mayors of Canterbury and with Ngāi Tahu before taking a proposal to Cabinet. We will be meeting with all 10 councils across Canterbury consulting on the proposal over the next 2 months and we will also be inviting public submissions by 1 May.Dr Megan Woods: Why did the Minister fail to complete the review by December 2014 as it was stated it would be by the Hon Amy Adams and the Hon Paula Bennett in March 2014?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: It is a pity the member cannot prepare a question when I have just given the answer. There was a change in both portfolios of new Ministers—myself and Louise Upston. We wanted to meet with the mayors of Canterbury and with Ngāi Tahu and get the very best advice on an issue that is of huge importance to Canterbury.Dr Megan Woods: Why has the Minister been delaying the time line against the advice of his officials and the undertakings of his predecessors to begin the process of restoring democracy to Environment Canterbury?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: We do want to give Canterbury people more of a say in the regional council but we also want to make sure it is not the dysfunctional mess that we inherited from the previous Government.Nuk Korako: What progress has been achieved since the 2010 review of Environment Canterbury found the organisation was dysfunctional and failing to meet the statutory deadlines?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The major failing was having no regional plan for Canterbury’s nationally significant freshwater resources 19 years after the Resource Management Act was passed. Canterbury actually now has one of the most comprehensive water plans of any region in New Zealand. The second failing was the broken-down relationships with the 10 councils and Ngāi Tahu and the message that Ms Upston and I have had is that those relationships are actually now stronger than they ever have been. The third failing was that the statutory compliance with processing resource consents was failing 71 percent of the time. With the commissioners that has been reduced to under 5 percent and I think that has been welcomed by all Cantabrians.Dr Megan Woods: How does he reconcile the answer to the previous question and his predecessor’s statement that under the commissioners there have been significant improvements in freshwater management with the High Court’s recent decision that Environment Canterbury under the commissioners acted unlawfully and failed to take account of the over-allocation of water for irrigation?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I am yet to meet a single Cantabrian who will not tell me that the commissioners have cleaned up one hell of a mess at Environment Canterbury. I point out the fact that there is actually now a water plan. There are actually now red zones where there cannot be water takes. There are actually now more prosecutions for farmers not complying with resource consents than there were under the failed Environment Canterbury. The only people whom I know now defending the Kerry Burke - led regional council are the members of the Labour Party.