Otago Regional Council’s (ORC) annual report, which was made public this week, shows a year of both substantial growth and many challenges, interim chief executive Dr Pim Borren says. 

“Ramping up” was the catch-cry during the past year, Pim said, and that is expected to continue through the current financial year.

“This year will be another big year for the ORC, including major restoration projects of Lake Hayes and Te Hakapupu/Pleasant River wetlands project, and development and delivery of our new, cornerstone Land and Water Regional Plan,” he said.

The ORC is responsible for the sustainable management of the Otago region’s natural resources - land, water and air - which includes everything from water quality to river management and pollution monitoring.

A raft of new rural sector government policies and an increased focus on waterways has underpinned a year of “substantial growth”, Pim said.

In the financial year 2021/2022 the ORC had total operating funding of $86.8M, including $20.3M from general rates, $20.5M from targeted rates and a $13M dividend from council-owned company Port Otago.

Staffing increased from 180 to 320, reflecting the increased work in science and regulation which the new government policies require, Pim said.

Some of the successes of the past financial year included the adoption of the new Significance, Engagement and Māori Participation Policy and the 19 projects that came from the ORC’s work with iwi; its record of processing 100 percent of resource consent applications within legislative timeframes; and its compliance monitoring, which included 1,097 on-site audits.

Challenges included public transport issues across Dunedin and Queenstown (Pim said he was taking direct accountability for improving bus service levels); the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns in the first quarter which affected a range of planned work; the departure of chief executive Sarah Gardner; and flood events across North Otago, Central Otago and Dunedin towards the end of the financial year.

The ORC’s planning programme for the year ahead is mostly focused on developing the new Land and Water Regional Plan, due to be publicly notified by the end of 2023, Pim said.

“This will become the foundation document for years ahead and we’re working steadily towards this [2023] deadline,” he said. “This important task to replace an outdated water plan, which has involved a huge volume and wide range of tasks.”

In a recent welcome to newly-elected councillors, Pim outlined the heavy workload ahead, including the setting of critical policies and rules to protect Otago’s water, land and air, ongoing environmental monitoring to better inform decision-making, and responding to numerous types of environmental incidents.

“There will be ongoing pressure to balance the affordability of ORC’s work programmes with continued need for robust frameworks to regulate the use of our natural resources, while also achieving ‘on the ground’ results through operational activities,” Pim said.

Read ORC’s full annual report here.

PHOTO: Wānaka App