February 26, 2016
Ngai Tahu gets Environment Canterbury voice
Ngai Tahu will have two seats on the reconstituted Canterbury regional council after this year’s local government election.
Under the terms of a bill reported back from select committee this week, Environment Canterbury’s return to partial democracy will mean voters get to elect seven councillors and the government appoints six commissioners.
Two of whom will be nominated by the South Island iwi, rather than one at present.
There could be a return to full democracy in 2019, but that’s not guaranteed.
Rights to appeal council decisions to the Environment Court have been restricted.
Just 15 of the 1169 written public submissions on the bill were in support, including one from Ngai Tahu.
The council was sacked in 2010 and replaced by commissioners after divisions over the way water should be allocated for farming.
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