Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's structure of local government.

Geographic coverage and responsibilities

The area of its jurisdiction consists of all the river catchments on the east coast of the South Island from the Clarence River, north of

Kaikōura Kaikōura () is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1, 180 km north of Christchurch. The town has an estimated permanent resident population of (as of ). The town is the governmen ...

, to the

Waitaki River The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of the � ...

, in South Canterbury. The region includes the

Canterbury Plains The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in t ...

, north and south

, the major braided rivers of the South Island, (the

Waimakariri River The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. ...

, the

Rakaia River The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Eu ...

and the

Rangitata River The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean northeast of Timaru. The river has a catchment area of , ...

) the

Mackenzie Basin The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest su ...

and the

. The Canterbury Regional Council is responsible for a wide variety of functions including public passenger transport, regional biosecurity, river engineering, environmental monitoring and investigations, regional policy and planning and for considering applications for certain resource consents – land use consents (including beds of waterbodies), coastal permits, water permits, and discharge permits. Canterbury Regional Council has strategic responsibilities for air, water and transport. Christchurch often has

temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. Nor ...

s which trap pollutants causing

air quality Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

issues. ECan set up the Clean Heat Project in 2002 and it ran until 2011 to assist with cleaner burning home heating and extra home insulation.

History

The Canterbury Regional Council's spiritual predecessor was the Canterbury United Council that was formed in 1979, which was the first regional government body in New Zealand since the end of the provinces in 1876. However this united council was replaced by the current regional council in 1989 after local government reforms.

Offices

Environment Canterbury's main office is at 200 Tuam Street Christchurch in an environmentally friendly building designed and built to house the regional council's 500 Christchurch based staff. The old building was demolished in 2011 after the Canterbury earthquakes. All staff moved into the new building on 18 April 2016. ECan also has smaller offices in

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

, Ashburton, and

Governance

From its creation until May 2010, Canterbury Regional Council was governed by 14 elected councillors who were elected on a

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

basis from eight regional constituencies.

Councillors (2001–2004)

In the 2001 local elections, nine constituencies were used: North Canterbury, Christchurch North, Christchurch East, Christchurch South, Christchurch West (all two members each), Selwyn-Banks Peninsula, Ashburton, South Canterbury, and Waitaki (all one member each). The candidates from the Ashburton and Waitaki constituencies were declared elected without opposition. The 14 council members were: *Robert Johnston *Ross Little *Ian Robertson *Judy Waters *Richard Budd *Valerie Campbell *

Kerry Burke Sir Thomas Kerry Burke (born 24 March 1942) is a former New Zealand politician and Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He was a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990, and late ...

Diana Shand Diana Rosemary Shand is a New Zealand environmentalist. Biography In the late 1980s Shand served on the Human Rights Commission. She has also served on the Canterbury Regional Council and was National Programme Manager for the New Zealand offi ...

Neil Cherry Neil James Cherry (29 September 1946 – 24 May 2003) was a New Zealand environmental scientist. Biography Early life and family Cherry was born in Christchurch on 29 September 1946. His parents were James Conrad Cherry and Mona Hartley, who h ...

(Christchurch West; resigned late 2002 or early 2003) *Peter Yeoman (Christchurch West; died October 2002) *Richard Johnson *Angus McKay *Mark Oldfield *Bill Penno * Alec Neill (Christchurch West; won by-election in April 2003) *

Nicky Wagner Nicola Joanne Wagner (born 23 July 1953) is a New Zealand teacher, businesswoman and politician. She represented the Christchurch Central electorate for the New Zealand National Party in the New Zealand Parliament. Early life and career Born ...

(Christchurch West; won by-election in April 2003) Yeoman died in October 2002. Cherry resigned during the term and died in May 2003. Both were from the Christchurch West constituency and the by-election caused by Yeoman's death was held over so that both positions could be filled at the same time. The by-election was won by Alec Neill and

in April 2003.

Councillors (2004–2007)

In the 2004 local elections, nine constituencies were used: North Canterbury, Christchurch North, Christchurch East, Christchurch South, Christchurch West (all two members each), Banks Peninsula & Selwyn, Ashburton, South Canterbury, and Waitaki (all one member each). *

(chair; Christchurch South) * Robert Johnston (deputy chair, North Canterbury) * Mark Oldfield (South Canterbury) * Angus McKay (Ashburton) * Bill Woods (Banks Peninsula and Selwyn) * Elizabeth Cunningham (Christchurch East) * Richard Budd (Christchurch East) * Judy Waters (Christchurch North) * Anne Carroll (Christchurch North) * Bob Kirk (Christchurch South) * Alec Neill (Christchurch West) *

(Christchurch West) * Ross Little (North Canterbury)

Councillors (2007–2010)

In the 2007 local elections, eight constituencies were used: North Canterbury, Christchurch North, Christchurch East, Christchurch South, Christchurch West, South Canterbury (all two members each), Selwyn Banks Peninsula, and Rakaia (both one member each). In Rakaia, incumbent councillor Angus McKay was returned without opposition. Four new regional councillors were elected on platforms promoting better management of water resources and opposition to the Central Plains Water scheme. The four were: David Sutherland and Rik Tindall, who stood as "Save Our Water" candidates, and independent candidates Jane Demeter and

Eugenie Sage Eugenie Meryl Sage (born 1958) is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. Since the , she has been a Green Party list MP in the House of Representatives and served as the Minister of Conservation and Land Information and the Associate Min ...

. The following members made up the regional council: *

(chairman until 24 September 2009; Christchurch South) * Angus McKay (Rakaia) * Mark Oldfield (South Canterbury) * Bronwen Murray (South Canterbury) *

(Selwyn-Banks Peninsula) * Ross Little (North Canterbury) * Jo Kane (North Canterbury) * Carole Evans (Christchurch North) * Jane Demeter (Christchurch North) * Pat Harrow (Christchurch West) * Alec Neill (chairman from 24 September 2009; Christchurch West) * David Sutherland (Christchurch East) * Rik Tindall (Christchurch East) *

Bob Kirk Robert Kirk (9 March 1845 – 1 December 1886) was a Scottish professional golfer. He was born at St Andrews, Scotland, and died there. His golf career was highlighted by second-place finishes in The Open Championship in 1869 and again in 1878 ...

(Christchurch South) On 24 September 2009, Alec Neill became chairman after the previous chairman, Sir

, lost a motion of no confidence adopted eight votes for to six against from the other councillors. Burke remained a regional councillor Burke had been re-elected chairperson in October 2007. The councillors' vote was initially tied between Burke and Alec Neill. Burke had been an elected councillor since 1998 and was chairman from 2004.

Commissioners (2010–2016)

In March 2010, following an investigation and report by

Wyatt Creech Wyatt Beetham Creech (born 13 October 1946) is a United States-born retired New Zealand politician. He served as the 14th deputy prime minister of New Zealand in Jenny Shipley's National Party government from August 1998 to December 1999. Ear ...

, the National Government sacked the Environment Canterbury councillors and replaced them with commissioners: *

Margaret Bazley Dame Margaret Clara Bazley (née Hope, born 23 January 1938) is a New Zealand public servant. She began her career as a psychiatric nurse and rose through the ranks to senior leadership positions at psychiatric hospitals and district health bo ...

(Chair) * Hon.

David Caygill David Francis Caygill (born 15 November 1948) is a former New Zealand politician. Caygill was born and raised in Christchurch. He entered politics in 1971 as Christchurch's youngest city councillor at the age of 22. He served as a Member of Pa ...

(Deputy Chair) * David Bedford * Donald Couch (until 2014), replaced by Elizabeth Cunningham * Tom Lambie * Professor Peter Skelton *

Rex Williams Desmond Rex Williams (born 20 July 1933) is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams won the Wo ...

The commissioners held their first public meeting on 6 May 2010. The National Government initially promised a return to elected councillors with the local elections in October 2013. In September 2012, this was revised for commissioners to stay until the October 2016 local elections. Donald Couch resigned in April 2015 as he was to move to Canada and in August 2015, he was replaced by Elizabeth Cunningham. In March 2014, a statutory review in ECan was begun, and the National Government released a public discussion document in March 2015 outlining a proposal for the regional council's future, with a stated preference for a mixed model of seven elected members and six members appointed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

. Nick Smith, as Minister for the Environment, stated that "it may be appropriate to consider these options beyond

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Louise Upston Louise Claire Upston (née McGill, born 14 March 1971) is a New Zealand politician of the National Party. She has represented the Taupō electorate in the House of Representatives since the . In the Fifth National Government, led by Prime Mini ...

, as Associate Minister for Local Government, justified the mixed model as it "could provide the necessary stability for Canterbury from 2016". Former district councillor and now member of parliament Sage criticised the government backdown as denying Cantabrians the right to make their own decisions. Artist Sam Mahon, who is a strong opponent of the sacking of the councillors, gave his opinion as the proposal presenting "just status quo, that gives the perception of democracy". Smith confirmed the mixed model in July 2015, with seven councillors to be elected in 2016 alongside six appointed commissioners, with a return to a fully elected council in 2019.

Mixed governance body (2016–2019)

For the 2016 local elections, the government allowed seven members to be elected with six appointed commissioners. For the local elections, there were four constituencies: Christchurch (4 members), North Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, and South Canterbury (1 member each). Peter Scott was declared elected unopposed for South Canterbury. Two of the existing commissioners retired (Bazley and Williams), with Bedford, Caygill, Cunningham, Lambie and Skelton reappointed. Iaean Cranwell was a new commissioner, with him and Cunningham appointed on the recommendation of

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Point ...

. Bedford became chairman but resigned in 2017 due to ill health. Steve Lowndes, who was initially deputy chairman, was elected as chairman in November 2017, with Peter Scott his deputy. The councillors and commissioners for the 2016 to 2019 period were as follows: * David Bedford (chair and commissioner, resigned September 2017) * Steve Lowndes (deputy chair, Christchurch, elected chairman in November 2017) * Peter Scott (South Canterbury, elected deputy chairman in November 2017) * David Caygill (commissioner) * Iaean Cranwell (commissioner) * Rod Cullinane (Christchurch) * Elizabeth Cunningham (commissioner) * Thomas Lambie (commissioner) * Claire McKay (North Canterbury) * Lan Pham (Christchurch) * Cynthia Roberts (Christchurch) * Peter Skelton (commissioner) * John Sunckell (Mid-Canterbury)

Councillors (2019–2022)

The composition of the board following the 2019 local elections was: *Jenny Hughey (chair) – Christchurch North East, The People's Choice *Peter Scott (deputy chair) – South Canterbury, Independent *Ian Mackenzie – Mid-Canterbury, Independent *John Sunckell – Mid-Canterbury, Independent *Elizabeth McKenzie – South Canterbury, Independent *Vicky Southworth – Christchurch South, Independent for Positive Change *Phil Clearwater – Christchurch South, The People's Choice-Labour *Claire McKay – North Canterbury, Independent *Grant Edge – North Canterbury, Independent *Megan Hands – Christchurch West, Independent *Craig Pauling – Christchurch West, The People's Choice *Tane Apanui – Christchurch North East, Rail and Water *Lan Pham – Christchurch Central, The Common Good-Independent *Nicole Marshall – Christchurch Central, Labour-The People's Choice

Councillors (2022–present)

The current composition of the board following the 2022 local elections is:

Chief executive

Stefanie Rixecker was appointed Chief Executive in August 2020, taking over from Bill Bayfield who took up the position in June 2011. Dr. Bryan Jenkins was the chief executive from June 2003.

Regional parks

The council operates four regional parks. * Ashley Rakahuri Regional Park * Northern Pegasus Bay * Lake Tekapo Regional Park *

Waimakariri River Regional Park Waimakariri River Regional Park is a regional park in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It covers on the banks of the Waimakariri River, and is operated by Environment Canterbury. History Waimakariri was once a vast and unco ...

Regional Policy Statement

The Canterbury Regional Policy Statement became operative in 1998. In 2006, a mandatory 10-year review of the Regional Policy Statement commenced.

Regional Plans and Water Conservation Orders

Canterbury has the following 'operative' regional plans. *The Natural Resources Regional Plan (NRRP) *Canterbury Regional Council Transitional Regional Plan, October 1991. *Transitional Regional Plan for Nelson-Marlborough Region *Waimakariri River Regional Plan *Opihi River Regional Plan *Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Regional Plan The Natural Resources Regional Plan (PNRRP) proceeded in two stages. Chapters 1 to 3 (Overview, Ngai Tahu and Air Quality) were publicly notified in June 2002. Chapters 4–8 were publicly notified in July 2004. Chapters 1 to 3 were decided on in September 2007 and some aspects of this large and detailed plan were appealed to the Environment Court. Hearings into Chapters 4–8 started in late 2007 and continued throughout 2008. The Canterbury Natural Resources Regional Plan chapters on Ngai Tahu and natural resources, air quality, water quality, water quantity, beds of lakes and rivers, wetlands and soil conservation were operative from 11 June 2011, replacing the older Canterbury Regional Council Transitional Regional Plan (October 1991), which was a collection of rules and bylaws predating the Resource Management Act 1991, and was the operative plan for most of the region, except the Waitaki catchment and the

area. There are also four

Water Conservation Order A water conservation order is a legal ruling to protect aspects of water bodies. It may be to protect the quantity of the water itself or for any issues relating to the water body as a whole. New Zealand In New Zealand, a Water Conservation Order i ...

s (WCOs) that apply in Canterbury: the Rakaia River WCO, the Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora) WCO, the Rangitata WCO and the Ahuriri River WCO.

Resource consents

Canterbury Regional Council issues and supervises the most resource consents under the

Resource Management Act 1991 The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zeal ...

of any of the 16 regional councils in New Zealand. In the year ended 30 June 2006, Environment Canterbury processed 3,381 applications, more than double the number processed by any other consent authority (Environment Waikato had the next highest number; 1,384 applications in 2006). By January 2005, Canterbury Regional Council had issued over 14,000 resource consents. The conditions of individual consents can be viewed on line by using the six-digit "CRC" number. In October 2004, Canterbury Regional Council had a 'backlog' of unprocessed applications due largely to the notification of applications to take groundwater in highly allocated groundwater zones. The 'backlog' or number of applications for consents being processed, is recorded daily on the Environment Canterbury web site. An upward trend appears to have ended in the middle of 2008, with numbers unprocessed slowly declining into 2009. The sharp increase in applications in June 2007 was due to the review of 400 existing resource consents in the Rakaia-Selwyn groundwater allocation zone.

Criticism

Canterbury Regional Council received the lowest rating given by rural ratepayers in a Federated Farmers survey on local authorities. The grade took into account the council's level of approachability, degree of bias, provision of roads, value for money, and implementation of the RMA. In October 2009 the Government announced a review of ECan under Section 24A of the

Resource Management Act The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zea ...

. The reason cited was that a delay in processing resource consents "is holding the Canterbury region back". In March 2010, after the release of the "Creech Report" the government chose to appoint a panel of commissioners to replace the elected Councillors, as described above.

References

External links

*'
Environment Canterbury
''
Canterbury Regional Council
Canterbury Regional Council Department of Internal Affairs Local Councils website.
List of Plans
Ministry for the Environment list of Canterbury Regional Council plans. NB This list is not up to date.
Community Profile
Department of Internal Affairs Local Councils website – community profile. * ("Creech Report") {{Authority control Politics of Canterbury, New Zealand Regional councils of New Zealand