Ian McLean Green Scene Spokesperson for the Green Party

Congratulations to Tauranga's five new regional councillors and the new chairman Doug Leeder. Management of the wonderfully-diverse Bay of Plenty is an awesome and challenging responsibility.

Introducing themselves and their goals through via local media last week, five of these six representatives identify local government restructuring as the key challenge for the next three years.

Featuring highly in their goals is growth, business opportunities and employment. Community development and community service appear in four of the six overviews. Overall, it is clear this group of councillors is very committed to the people of the Bay of Plenty.

Four of the six also identify environmental management or protection as important.

Thank you to Paula Thompson, who is the only councillor who identifies 'the environment” as the top priority. Philip Sherry identifies water quality as an urgent problem of both regional and national significance, and he is right.

I suggest water quality is a much more important and challenging issue than administrative restructuring.

The Resource Management Act is quite specific about the functions of a regional council. In section 30.1(a), it states the council should aim to 'achieve integrated management of the natural and physical resources of the region”.

The RMA puts the environment first, and specifically aims to manage the effects of human activities. Economic growth and business opportunities can and should be supported, but within the context of an environment that maintains its integrity.

The other way around would be where resource exploitation, development and growth are given priority, and the purpose of the environment is to support those very human objectives. Some councillors appear to sway in this direction, although it is not consistent with the RMA.

The councillors' job is to balance these competing objectives, although the RMA stipulates a strong environmental focus should never be ignored. The job is demanding, rewarding, and at times enormously frustrating. We wish them well in their three years of service.