Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz

Last year, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council developed a Regional Pest Management Strategy, and put it out for public submissions. Council will consider the submissions this year, but in the interim, central government is busy changing the rules.

Don't get me wrong – much of what is being proposed is very good stuff – but the timing could have been better. Hopefully we will have time during our hearings to make adjustments to our strategy to bring it into line with national directions – but since government itself is seeking feedback on its proposed Biosecurity Law Reform Bill and the proposed National Policy Statement (NPS) on New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity, the risk is we may have to put our process on hold until we are sure what we are going to end up with.

What we are seeing is the government providing stronger national leadership and guidance on environmental issues. I think this is a good idea – it will remove uncertainty and enable consistency across the country.

The Biosecurity Law Reform Bill includes a wide range of amendments to the Act, along with related amendments to four other Acts. It aims take a broad rather than narrow focus, be enabling rather than prescriptive and be flexible – so it doesn't lock in current practices and priorities. Among many other provisions, it requires the crown to honour its good neighbour obligations (pest management on crown land), addresses aspects of border security, but it also includes changes relating Regional Pest Management Strategies. And we are nearly finished ours!

The proposed Biodiversity National Policy statement is about providing greater guidance to councils on the balance that needs to be found in protecting our unique plant and bird life while respecting the rights of property owners to use and develop their land. However, it also aims to offer a flexible approach for councils, recognising that specific regions will have their own unique issues to address. The proposed NPS contains a list of criteria for identifying areas of indigenous vegetation and habitats of indigenous animals that have been recognised as being rare and/or threatened at a national level. It requires district and relevant regional plans to identify these areas of significant biodiversity within five years of the NPS taking effect. In addition, Regional Policy Statements (RPS) notified after the proposed NPS is in place must include the biodiversity criteria. Since our Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement is out for submissions, it will probably be caught by this requirement. Submissions to the NPS are being sought by 2 May 2011 to enable them to be considered by the Minister. A snag is that government intends to wait for the release of a report from the Waitangi Tribunal on a claim which relates to environmental, resource and conservation management before finalising the NPS. Who knows how long this will take.

So there is a lot happening on the pest front and it is likely that the regional council will have to hurry up and wait until we know exactly what we are dealing with.

If you have any views on this or any other issue, please contact me on neesj@xtra.co.nz or ring me on 07 579-5150. Or you can check out my website at www.janenees.co.nz