SUBMISSION
To:
Bay of Plenty Regional Council
On:
Proposed Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement – November 2010
The Rotorua Lakes Community Board is pleased to have the opportunity to make
this submission to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Proposed Bay of Plenty
Regional Policy Statement November 2010.
The purpose of the Resource Management Act 1991 [Act] is to promote the
sustainable management of natural and physical resources (s. 5 (1)).
The Bay of Plenty Region is diverse in many ways and the Proposed RPS is
similarly wide ranging. The Board does not propose to comment on all
Objectives, Policies and Methods contained in the document, but rather wishes to
submit on those issues that are of particular concern to it.
Water Quality and Land Use
Within the past 12 months, two documents of some significance have been
produced. These are the Report and Recommendations of the Board of Inquiry
into the Proposed National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management
(January 2010), and the Report of the Land and Water Forum (September 2010).
While neither of these documents have any statutory standing at this stage, they
do perhaps provide some basis to work from. They have both been promulgated
as scene setting ’high level’ documents.
The Draft RPS has similarly been described as a ‘high level’ document and
provides an umbrella of sorts under which other documents will be needed to
implement any and all rules and actions necessary to achieve the desired water
quality outcomes in Rotorua’s iconic lakes.
Objectives
We generally support Objective 28 (page 76)

Enhance the water quality in the lakes of the Rotorua district and other
catchments at risk.
Whilst we acknowledge that Policy WL 3B seeks to establish limits of
contaminants including nitrogen and phosphorus that can be discharged into
each lake catchment to achieve its target TLI (and specifically states a limit of
435 tonnes of nitrogen for Lake Rotorua), we would prefer to see these targets
clearly stated in the Objective.
We accordingly seek an amendment to Objective 28 to read as follows:

Enhance the water quality in the lakes of the Rotorua district and other
catchments at risk to meet the RWLP water quality (TLI) standards.
We support Objective 29 (page 76)

Land use is:
1. within the capability of the land to support the use, and
2. integrated with the wider environmental values of its surroundings, and
3. within the capacity of its receiving water to assimilate any discharge.
Policies
We support Policy WL 1B: Facilitating land-use change (page 122)

Regard as a positive effect any significant reduction in contaminant discharge
(including nitrogen and phosphorus) likely to result from land use change
proposals.
We support Policy WL 2B: Defining catchments at risk (page 122)

Control contaminant discharges in the following catchments at risk:
a. The catchments of Lakes Rotoiti, Rotorua, Rotoehu, Okaro, Okareka,
Rotoma, Okataina, Tarawera, Tikitapu, Rotokakahi, Rerewhakaaitu and
Rotomahana; and
b. The catchments of other water bodies to be defined in the Regional
Water and Land Plan, having regard to whether they have significant
cultural and/or ecological values that may be adversely affected by land
use or land-use change or have limited assimilative capacity to
accommodate nutrients without affecting those values.
A catchment includes the total area from which a receiving water body collects
its surface or groundwater runoff.
We generally support Policy WL 3B: Establishing contaminant discharge limits
for catchments at risk (page 122)

Establish limits for the total amount of specified contaminants that can be
discharged into a catchment at risk including:
a. Contaminants to be managed to avoid compromising each catchment’s
ecology, mauri, fishability, swimmability and aesthetics; and
b. The amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that can be discharged in each
lake catchment at risk to achieve its target trophic level index;
For Lake Rotorua, nitrogen exports from land [to] the lake shall not exceed 435
tonnes per annum.
We note that the sustainable load of nitrogen exports from land to the lake is
stated as 435 tonnes per annum. We submit that the sustainable loads of both
nitrogen and phosphorus for both Lake Rotorua and all the other lakes with
Action Plans should be similarly stated in specific numbers.
We generally support Policy WL 4B: Requiring consent for increased discharges
(page 123)

Require that in catchments at risk, a change in land use likely to result in the
discharge of increased amounts of nominated contaminants be allowed only if
resource consent is obtained.
We would prefer to see this Policy extended to also provide that any discharge of
contaminants over the allocated nutrient discharge levels provided in Policy WL
5B be allowed after 2019 only if resource consent is obtained.
We generally support Policy WL 5B: Allocating nutrient discharge levels (page
123)

Allocate among land use activities the capacity of Rotorua Te Arawa lakes and
other water bodies in catchments at risk to assimilate nutrient discharges
within the discharge limits established under Policy WL3B having regard to the
following principles: etc.
We submit that the wording of this Policy should be amended to specifically
enable the allocation of nutrient discharge levels to individual properties in each
catchment.
We support Policy WL 6B: Managing the reduction of nutrient discharges (page
124)

Require managed reduction of any nutrient discharges that are in excess of the
discharge limits established under Policy WL 3B.

For Lake Rotorua, discharges of nitrogen on to or into land or water in the Lake
Rotorua catchment in excess of the discharge limits established under Policy
WL 3B may be authorized only until 2019.
We specifically support the establishment of the year 2019 as the deadline date
for achieving the necessary nutrient discharge reductions.
Methods
We generally support Method 28: Undertake consultation to identify water
quality standards and targets for the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes (page 135)
While we support consultation and collaboration in the allocation and review of
nutrient discharge limits under Policy WL5B, the establishment of limits for the
discharge of nitrogen and phosphorus under Policy WL3B is a specialist scientific
discipline and presumably beyond the abilities of most (if not all) land users.
Subject to expert evidence being produced, widespread consultation under
Policy WL3B will only lead to extended delays in implementing the Policy
thereby exacerbating the decline of water quality in the lakes and potentially
putting the 2019 target date at risk.
We accordingly seek an amendment to the wording of the method that seeks
consultation in only those areas where it can be meaningful.
Directive Methods (page 131)
In order to provide consistency with other sections of the Statement, we seek the
addition of Policies WL 1B (page 122), WL 6B, WL 7B and WL 8B (page 76) to
section 3.2.1 Method 1:, and Policy WL 6B (page 76) to section 3.2.1 Method 3.
Economics
We support the work being undertaken to achieve the best cost/benefit
approach to remediating the lakes of the Rotorua District. We would like to see
this work completed at the earliest opportunity as we have considerable
concerns regarding the overall cost to Rotorua of losing a lake, particularly Lake
Rotorua.
Moving Forward
The Board has concerns as to when and how the ‘rubber will hit the road’ in
terms of achieving meaningful progress with the necessary land-use change to
remediate the water quality in the Rotorua lakes, and particularly in Lake
Rotorua.
The Board has concerns at the general lack of progress that has been made under
the Operative Regional Water and Land Plan (Rule 11) since it became operative
in 2005, particularly with regard to Lake Rotorua. It is the view of the
community that the Rule, which only caps nutrient loss from land-use to levels
that are destroying the lakes, has been largely ineffective in attaining the TLI’s
for the five nominated lakes and has not led to action on those other lakes that
have exceeded their TLI trigger points.
Reviews were commenced in relation to Lakes Okaro and Okareka (Plan changes
5 and 6) but were postponed and withdrawn on the 17th September 2009. This
led to two stakeholders incurring a direct loss of approx. $10,000.00 and has
resulted in generally diminished trust and confidence in BOPRC.
We see the Rotorua/Rotoiti Action Plan (non statutory) with its 240 year
timeline to restore Lake Rotorua gathering dust on the BOPRC table, and the
immediate review of the Plan requested by RDC being deferred for lack of
funding.
We understand that negotiations have been, and are being undertaken with a
number of land owners to achieve initial reduction in nutrients in the key lake
catchments. A recent LUF Board report to the RTALSG (2 December 2010),
indicated that negotiated agreements with landowners have achieved reductions
of 3,939 kg N and 84 kg P in the Lake Rotorua catchment with further reductions
of 5,760 kgs N and 123 kg P (pro rata) anticipated pending current negotiations.
While this is seen as positive, it is effectively little more than scratching the
surface. Significantly more action is needed and needed urgently.
The Operative Regional Water and Land Plan is seen by the Board as the vehicle
to moving forward. We are unaware of any impediment to necessary actions,
reviews, plan changes etc. under the RWLP being commenced without delay or
waiting for the Proposed RPS to go through its processes including appeals.
We note that the LUF Board report also seeks progress as quickly as possible to
alleviate uncertainty about future land management policy and to provide policy
clarity.
We look forward to the opportunity to make a verbal presentation to this
submission.
Rotorua Lakes Community Board
C/- Rotorua District Council
Private Bag 3029
Rotorua Mail Centre
Rotorua 3046
P. (07) 362 4700
E. grahamb@clear.net.nz