The chief executive of Environment Canterbury, Bryan Jenkins, is following the path of the sacked regional councillors who appointed him.Mr Jenkins is relinquishing the chief executive position to take up a professorial fellowship being established within
The chief executive of Environment Canterbury, Bryan Jenkins, is following the path of the sacked regional councillors who appointed him.
Mr Jenkins is relinquishing the chief executive position to take up a professorial fellowship being established within the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management in Christchurch.
Dame Margaret Bazley, the chair of the commissioners who were appointed by the Government to replace elected members in April, announced that Environment Canterbury will provide $350,000 funding for the professorial fellowship for a period of two years. Dr Jenkins will leave Environment Canterbury to take up the appointment at the end of February. He has worked for the organisation for seven years.
The professorial fellowship is a convenient way of tapping Dr Jenkins’ knowledge in the commissioners’ task of liberalising water allocation in Canterbury for the benefit of irrigators. But his removal also paves the way for a more thorough cultural shakeup and dismemberment of the regional council.
Many of the functions of the council in relation to clean air and transport are expected to be wound down and other consenting functions taken over by centralised authorities such as the Ministry for the Environment’s Environmental Protection Agency.
Announcing the appointment, Chair of Commissioners Dame Margaret Bazley said the fellowship was important to Environment Canterbury and the region as it would accelerate the work being undertaken to advance “water management” in the region.
“The professorial fellowship is a significant research position for the region. The fellowship will be used to enhance the development of water management strategies both in Canterbury and New Zealand,” Dame Bazley said.
While Dr Jenkins has come in for indirect criticism about the pace of water regulation in Canterbury, he had long sought many of the powers now exercised by the commissioners – such as a moratorium on water well abstraction pending development of water storage projects.
Several recent law changes, including the legislation passed under urgency to sack the elected councillors, have significantly shifted the goal posts in favour of water allocation and building dams over the region’s main water ways. This is acknowledged in the prospectus for the Ngai Tahu-led Hurunui Water Project seeking approximately $10 million to advance a dam on the Hurunui River in North Canterbury. Subscriptions for the prospectus offer close at the end of today.
One of the other big projects – Central Plains Water - is seeking another $3 million-odd to fight appeals over its ambitions to take water from the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers.
Meanwhile, in recent months there have been several appointments to zone committees which will make recommendations to the Canterbury Water Management Strategy Committee, a process established by Dr Jenkins. The vast majority of members of these zone committees are landowners with irrigation company connections, ensuring the strategy projects will receive a tick of approval.
