Kia ora, and welcome to On Stream, edition 9.
Gosh, the year is fair flying by! Our farming friends are lambing, there’s blossom in the trees, and we can see smiles for the first time in a while. In this edition, we’re on the lookout for rooks, we say ‘ahoy, me hearty!’ to a new boat and meet some Clutha waste warriors.
Read on, or you’ll miss out on the dreadful puns . . . |
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Submissions opening on ORC’s freshwater provisions
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Submissions open today on the freshwater parts of the Otago Regional Council’s proposed Otago Regional Policy Statement — and will close on 29 November.
Following a High Court direction, the ORC resolved on 15 September that only part of the proposed Otago Regional Policy Statement (pORPS) relates to freshwater, with those parts required to be re-notified for public submission.
The pORPS is the cornerstone document for the ORC’s forthcoming Land and Water Regional Plan, which itself is required to be publicly notified by December 2023. Because of the High Court decision, any person who submitted on the identified freshwater provisions must resubmit on those parts for their submissions to be considered — so we’re encouraging all those people who submitted last year on the now identified freshwater provisions to make new submissions.
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Submissions can mirror the points submitters made last year, or have new, different or additional points. The submission process is available to everyone, however, irrespective of whether you submitted last year.
It’s really important people have their say now as pORPS feeds into the Land and Water Regional Plan, which is a defining document for Otago’s land and freshwater environment.
Access to the freshwater parts of pORPS is at www.orc.govt.nz/fpirps, or from ORC offices in Dunedin and Queenstown, and district and city council offices. Further questions can be directed to ORC’s customer services on 0800 474 082.
Any submission must be in Form 5 and state whether the submitter wants to be heard in support of their submission. Form 5 can be found at www.orc.govt.nz/fpirps
Why is there a new submission process? Read more here
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Ever wondered what these words or phrases mean — pugging, scat, lateral spreading, flyovers, groundwater, GTFS, Catchment Advisor, LiDAR? Here at ORC, we use a lot of scientific jargon and acronyms. In every edition of On Stream, we'll tackle a new one and try to explain and demystify what it means and why we use it.
A is for Aquifer
An aquifer is a body of rock and/or sediment where groundwater collects below the surface of the land. Confined aquifers have a layer of impenetrable rock or clay above them, while unconfined aquifers lie below a layer of soil it can pass through.
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| Got a word or acronym you would like us to clarify? Get in touch with Lisa.Scott@orc.govt.nz. |
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We all need someone who’s as happy to see us as Harbourmaster Steve is to see this boat!
The Harbourmaster team is super excited about the arrival of a new (to us) vessel, which has just been transported overland from Auckland to Dunedin. An Auckland Harbourmaster vessel since 2007, it became available when Auckland Regional Council replaced their fleet with boats retired from the America’s Cup campaign.
The new boat is an 8.5m Rayglass Protector, purchased for $92,000.00. Weighing three tonnes, it can carry seven people and is powered by two 200hp Suzuki outboards.
The new vessel will be based in Dunedin at the Harbourmaster’s office on Halsey Street and utilised in the coastal Otago area for Harbourmaster and on-water activities: water safety programmes, oil spill containment, maritime emergency management, navigational safety bylaw education and enforcement.
The existing Harbourmaster vessel, the 7-metre-long Kaitiaki, will be relocated to Cromwell in Central Otago, mainly for use on Lake Dunstan. It will mean the end of the costly and environmentally damaging necessity of towing a single boat from Dunedin to Cromwell and back.
The new vessel will be officially blessed and named in early October.
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Waiwera South School is getting on top of their waste.
All 40 students at Waiwera South School recently did a waste audit with Scott Martin, the new Enviroschools facilitator for the Clutha schools. The school collected a week of rubbish and recycling. They found that 80% of what was in their rubbish bins was actually rubbish, and 96% of what was in their recycling bin was meant to be there.
Ka rawe to the students at the school for sorting their waste so well. They are aiming to have 0% contamination, and they are brainstorming ideas for reducing the waste and recycling they are creating.
The students finished the day by upcycling yogurt containers and re-potting last year’s strawberries. Each student got to take home a strawberry plant so they can refurbish and extend the garden for the spring growing season.
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No holding back as the class sorts a week’s worth of rubbish
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Ta da! Upcycled yogurt pottles make great seedling containers
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By hook or by crook, look out for rooks
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Rooks were brought to New Zealand between 1862 and 1873 to control insects, and, like many other introduced species, their population rapidly exploded.
Over the years, ORC and Environment Southland have been working together to eradicate the pests, with help from the community.
We believe there is no longer a breeding population in Otago because no chicks have been reported in the last six years; however, there may well be a rookery in the region that we don’t know about, which is why every year during September/October we ask the public to report rook sightings so we can build a picture of current bird numbers.
What does a rook look like?
Large birds with glossy blue-black feathers, they are often mistaken for crows — but New Zealand doesn’t have crows, so it’ll likely be a rook. They can also be identified by their harsh “kaah” call.
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Spring is the best time to spot rooks because it is when they nest. People are asked not to attempt to shoot at or scare rooks, as there is often only one chance to deal with them and if they are frightened they can scatter and form new rookeries.
People who see rooks in Otago are asked to contact ORC 0800 474 082 or by emailing pests@orc.govt.nz
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With voting papers hitting your mailbox ‘round about now and recent research suggesting 43% of Millennials have never posted a letter, we asked our friends Cam and Finau to provide a refresher on the ‘dying’ art of snail mail, specifically postal voting.
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All kidding aside, it’s your future — so get out and vote! Next Tuesday, October 4, is the last day for posting your vote — but don't worry, you can still drop it off to a ballot box until October 8.
Check our website for special orange ballot box sites and info about how to make a special vote if you’re not yet enrolled.
Click here for more information about candidates and how to vote.
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Land and Water Regional Plan consultation
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We’ll be keeping you up to date with round two consultation on our new Land and Water Regional Plan right here in On Stream each month. Please note: the final venue in Dunedin has changed! Click here for dates and venues.
We’ll be advertising in your local paper and on our Facebook page, so stay tuned for when we are coming to your place and join us . . .
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Find out about monthly Otago Regional Council meetings here.
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Feel free to forward this email to anyone who might like to read it. If you have any story ideas or want to know anything specific about anything in this issue, let us know by emailing lisa.scott@orc.govt.nz. If you have been forwarded this email, you can sign up here. |
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