December 19, 2023
Water policy taking backwards step
A Māori environmental planner says scrapping the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management will reopen the door to dodgy developers, poor farming practices and poorly performing councils.
Kapiti-based Mahina-a-rangi Baker is one of 50 experts to sign an open letter urging the coalition government to rethink its plan to scrap the policy and its driving principle, Te Mana O Te Wai.
She says the policy was introduced in 2020 to address widespread community concern, including anger at the fact almost half the country’s waterways are unswimmable.
“It’s actually about ensuring that the benefits of development are borne equally across our communities and that the costs are borne equally and we don’t allow small parts of our society to pollute and destroy – and leave the bill with the rest of the community to pick up,” Dr Baker says.
She says the Government seems intent on allowing past business and water management practicesto re-emerge – while ignoring wosening water quality and other environmental impacts.