TANK Group gets to the heavy lifting

At the end of June, the TANK Group got down to a heavy workload, wading through some of the measures to be used to manage Hawke's Bay's most productive catchments.

Six-weekly stakeholder meetings are helping to develop a Plan Change for the Tutaekurī, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamū catchments, and the 28 June meeting had a strong focus on Ngaruroro catchment.

A feature of this collaborative group is its large membership base, as well as the open debate of issues that traditionally create tension and provoke disagreement.

28 June was meeting 21 of this collaborative group, with a detailed focus on the impact of nitrogen, ammonia, algae and water-based plants in the Ngaruroro River and its tributaries. There were many questions around the room on how information is collected and collated, with comments and challenges that reflected the diverse sector, tāngata whenua, environmental group and council views and standpoints. TANK Group meetings receive reports back from other working groups , all feeding into a highly-planned timeline scheduled to the end of 2017.

Scott Lawson represents HB Vegetable Growers, with an active role in the TANK Group.

“Many of us attended HBRC’s groundwater session last week, for an update on the groundwater model in the TANK catchment. The session was informative and shows real progress being made with the science, which is so relevant to what we see on the ground,” said Mr Lawson.

HBRC staff play a central role in facilitating TANK Group meetings and the plan change process. An engagement plan has been developed to help tell public and affected groups more about TANK project.

Progress is also under way with working groups focusing on stormwater, tāngata whenua, the assessment of economic needs, and lake/ wetland considerations.

A verbal report on June’s TANK group meeting went to HBRC’s 3 August Regional Planning Committee. The next meeting of the TANK Group is 9 August.

The TANK group consists of 30-plus members from tāngata whenua (representing ngā hapū and marae), primary sector, council and environmental interests.

TANK information is available at www.hbrc.govt.nz, search: #tank

23 August 2016

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