Raglanders concerned about limited benefit coming from targeted rate

Group questions lack of environmental benefit in coastal Waikato catchments from big rate take

A group of Raglanders met earlier this month to discuss what they say is a lack of environmental benefit coming from the West Coast rate that Raglanders and other coastal Waikato residents and farmers pay. The rate was set by the Waikato Regional Council in 2010 and is targeted at environmental protection work in the West Coast Zone covering the Raglan | Whaingaroa, Aotea and Kawhia harbours.

Calculations by group members indicated that about $1.5 million in rates had been collected since the zone was established. Enquiries made by Raglan 23 to the Waikato Regional Council show that $1.416 million dollars has been collected so far and with next year’s take for the targeted rate, the total figure will be $1.782 million dollars.

The group says that there is little to see for the money being collected from local landowners. Malibu Hamilton, a member of the group, says that in the future West Coast residents would appreciate having input into prioritising how funding is spent in our catchment and that discussions to date have established the priorities as:

  1. Enforcement of existing consent conditions, rules and regulations to protect the environmental gains that have already been made in this catchment.
  2. Tightening the rules around forestry logging in this catchment.
  3. Checking the condition of riparian fences (within 2km of the harbour) and supporting farmers to upgrade these where required.
  4. Riparian fencing and planting up to another 135km of streams (highlighted in yellow in the map above) – this could be completed within 10 years. Catchment Management Officer to liaise with landowners and assist with 1/3 funding directly to landowners to support them to fence and plant. Landowners can choose plant suppliers and planting contractors – with Whangaroa Harbour Care as an option.
  5. Monitoring the health and extent of seagrass beds and mangroves in Whaingaroa Harbour as indicators of water quality.

Information provided to Raglan 23 by the Waikato Regional Council shows that of the $306,127 collected from the targeted rate, $151,918 was spent on catchment works during the 2014/15 financial year. This leaves $154,209 which the Council says it spent on catchment oversight (programme and zone management; community, stakeholder and authority liaison), information & advice (direct response to public requests; and provision of advice for catchment and river management.) and on preparation of funding applications.

So the Council spent over half of the rate take on overheads and only 49% on real catchment work. When the general and the targeted rates for the zone are added together, the percentage of real work drops to just under 25%.

In an earlier request by Whaingaroa Habourcare for information, the WRC said that the work done around the Raglan | Whaingaroa Harbour was:

  •  Waingaro River – Indigenous bush retirement fencing (260ha of retirement). MOE is in place.
  • Waitetuna River – Poplar pole planting for hillside erosion protection (300 poles).
  • Waitetuna River – Riparian fencing (260m) and indigenous planting (1000 plants).
  • Okete Stream – Riparian fencing (2,900m) and indigenous planting (1200 plants) – subject to MOE
  • Waitetuna River – Indigenous planting to complement river works completed.
  • Waitetuna River – In-stream obstruction removal, willow vegetation removal.

The Council paid $154,209 for this small amount of work of which $36,565 came from the West Coast targeted rate. The Council paid another $8,000 for work near the Waitetuna River on mapping for hillside erosion management to compare costs of land use: pines vs. manuka and another $22,000 on phoning landowners around the Whaingaroa Harbour who had previously not shown an interest in soil conservation and riparian management works.

It does seem that the evidence does support what the group of concerned Raglanders is saying. There seems to be a lack of significant environmental benefit coming from the West Coast rate and little to see for the $1.4 million collected so far.

With local body elections coming up next year there are tough questions that need to be asked of our Regional Council representatives. Raglan’s two Waikato general constituency councillors, Peter Buckley (Phone: 021 227 3436 Email: peter.buckley@waikatoregion.govt.nz) and Theresa Stark
(Phone: 021 941 314 Email: theresa.stark@waikatoregion.govt.nz) need to be called to account for the lack of environmental benefit coming from the $1.78 million of West Coast zone rate money that will have been collected by the election. 


 

Full information provided by Waikato Regional Council in response to Raglan 23’s questions

The table below shows the total rates (both general and targeted rates) collected for the West Coast Zone (“the Zone”) since the Zone was established in 2010; and the budgeted total rates revenue for 2015/16.

 

  2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
Rate Revenue Actual Actual Actual Actual Actual Budgeted
General 252,954 253,167 279,149 328,049 306,962 365,950
Targeted 251,894 254,590 278,188 325,655 306,127 365,950

While the Whaingaroa Harbour catchment is ~12% of the total Zone area, and one of three important harbour catchments within the Zone;  the Whaingaroa Harbour catchment received approximately 20% of direct expenditure (i.e. for works on the ground – planting, fencing and materials, associated with; catchment new works, catchment maintenance and river management) for 2014/15.

The table below provides an estimated summary of the distribution of direct costs (i.e. for works on the ground – planting, fencing and materials) across the Zone for 2014/15. Please note the final end of year figures are still being processed, therefore these figures are subject to minor change.

The remainder of the Zone expenditure includes:

Catchment oversight: Programme and zone management; community, stakeholder and authority liaison.

Information & advice: Direct response to public requests; and provision of advice for catchment and river management.

In addition, there are project costs associated with the preparation of funding applications. Of note is the successful funding application to the Ministry of Primary Industries which has resulted in an additional $630,000 over four years to implement soil conservation initiatives and funding support in catchments with the highest erosion risk in the West Coast – Awakino, Lower Mokau and Mangaotaki.

The draft 2014/15 West Coast Zone figures are outlined in the table below. Please note these figures include both direct and indirect costs (such as labour and overheads).

  Year to date spent Year to date budget Variance % Spent
Catchment Oversight 126,756 155,516 28,761 82%
Information & Advice 39,017 54,296 15,249 72%
Catchment Maintenance 25,297 34,203 8,905 74%
Catchment New Works 201,421 229,764 28,343 88%
River Management 92,662 138,055 45,393 67%
Total Operating Expenditure 485,154 611,833 126,680 79%

Any surplus at the end of the financial year is carried over as an operational reserve into the following year for the West Coast Zone. This is then available for additional works or to offset future rating as agreed with the West Coast Zone Catchment Committee.

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