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

I spent last weekend reading the 275 submissions to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Long Term Plan.

Overall, there is very strong support for the work the regional council does – especially in the water management, environmental protection, economic development and regional planning space.

Surprisingly, while there are a few calls on cost reduction, the greater percentage call for council to do more.

Stand-out issues are support for more expenditure on biosecurity and pest management, calls for council contribution to regional infrastructure – especially for community sewerage schemes – and support for continued funding for SmartGrowth and Bay of Connections.

There is support for council to develop another infrastructure fund, but mixed views on whether there should be a moratorium on infrastructure funding in the next few years while a new fund is built up.

Another interesting feature is the number of submissions from Maori organisations.

There is very strong support for our environmental activities but also many calls for much more funding to support iwi and hapu participation in resource management.

Government treaty settlements are raising significant expectations.

Four days of hearings will culminate in some hard decision-making with prioritisation and trade-offs.

If you have views on this or any other issue, you can email me at neesj@xtra.co.nz or ring me on 07 579 5150.