Plan for Canterbury 2023-2025
Last updated: 19 Apr 2023
Foreword
Ko Ngā Tiritiri o te Moana ngā maunga
Ko ngā wai huka ngā awa i rere tonu mai
Ko Ngā Pākihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha te whenua
Ko Marokura, ko Mahaanui, ko Araiteuru ngā tai
Tihei mauri ora!The Southern Alps stand above
The snow-fed rivers continually flow forth
The plains of Waitaha extend out
To the tides of Marokura, Mahaanui and Araiteuru
Behold there is life!
Ki uta ki tai | From the mountains to the sea, Canterbury is an amazing place to visit, live, study, work and do business. We offer an abundance of opportunities in construction, agriculture, manufacturing, professional and technical services, the arts, culture, sport, outdoor and community activities.
This Mayoral Forum’s Plan for Canterbury builds on the 2020-2022 Plan and includes all four aspects of wellbeing (environmental, economic, social and cultural).
We have narrowed our focus and attention to three priority areas: sustainable environmental management, shared prosperity, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Within these priority areas, we have identified specific actions that we will focus on to make a difference through our leadership, facilitation and advocacy.
This term we are likely to see the greatest change in local authorities since 1989. The current Government reforms will fundamentally alter the shape and functions of local government, with impacts on the local communities we serve. Through all aspects of the reform process, the Mayoral Forum will continue to advocate for keeping governance and decision-making devolved to the level of government closest to affected communities.
Our Plan for Canterbury summarises the interests and priorities of local government leaders for Cantabrians. It provides a basis for conversation and partnership with Ngāi Tahu, Government, and the business, community and volunteer sectors. Where our interests align, we can work together for the good of all.
Mā whero mā pango ka oti ai te mahi
With red and black the work will be complete.
We welcome the opportunity to work across our communities and with our partners to achieve our vision for Canterbury to develop sustainably while sharing prosperity and developing resilient communities that are proud of their identity.
Who we are
The members of the Mayoral Forum are the mayors of the ten territorial authorities in Canterbury and the chair of the regional council (Environment Canterbury).
The Forum is mandated by the Canterbury Local Authorities’ Triennial Agreement and is the primary mechanism for communication, co-ordination and collaboration between councils in New Zealand’s largest region.
The Forum is supported by the Canterbury Chief Executives Forum, Policy, Corporate, Operations, Economic Development and Communications and Engagement Forums, regional working groups and a permanent secretariat hosted by Environment Canterbury.
Visit Canterbury Mayoral Forum website for further information
Background to the Plan for Canterbury
The Mayoral Forum’s Plan for Canterbury 2020-2022 had five priority issues based on the wellbeing framework for sustainable development:
- sustainable environmental management
- shared economic prosperity
- better freight transport options
- climate change mitigation and adaptation
- three waters services.
We have summarised the achievements of the Mayoral Forum during 2019-2022:
A wellbeing framework for sustainable development
Natural capital – All aspects of the natural environment needed to support life and human activity, including ecosystems and their services, minerals and energy resources.
Financial physical capital – Infrastructure and other physical and financial assets that support incomes and material living conditions.
Social capital – Social connections, attitudes, norms and values that enable social co-operation, including trust, the rule of law, the Crown-Māori relationship and cultural identity.
Human capital – Skills, knowledge and physical and mental health that enable people to participate fully in work, study, recreation, politics and society.
Plan for Canterbury 2023-2025
At the first meeting of the new triennium, the Mayoral Forum agreed that the Plan for Canterbury is fundamentally sound, with minor changes needed to the vision to widen ‘shared economic prosperity’ simply to ‘shared prosperity’ to ensure social prosperity is appropriately captured, and a sharper focus on priority areas for the Forum.
The Plan has also been informed by the Canterbury wellbeing overview.
The Forum agreed that the Plan for Canterbury needs to be more agile and able to be updated (particularly the actions) as the triennium progresses.
With this agility in mind, the plan includes both immediate priority actions, particularly in light of the upcoming general election, and longer-term priorities for the full three years of this term and beyond.
Our vision and values
Our vision for Canterbury is sustainable development with shared prosperity, resilient communities and a proud identity. We also want to make sure that sustainable development meets the needs of the present while safeguarding the wellbeing of current and future generations.
In this we echo the guiding whakataukī of Ngāi Tahu: Mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei – for us and our children after us.
To expand on this, our vision is that in Canterbury, all of us together:
- care for our natural resources to secure both present and future opportunities
- create shared prosperity so no one is left behind
- nurture caring, hope and kindness, standing strong together to withstand and adapt to challenges and change
- celebrate our diverse identities – and take pride in our common identity as Cantabrians.
We commit to prudent governance for the future that achieves a balance between the four aspects of wellbeing. While we cannot tackle every aspect of wellbeing equally and everywhere at the same time, no single aspect of wellbeing (environmental, economic, social or cultural) is more important than any other.
We acknowledge our strength as Canterbury and strongly support the concept of localism and subsidiarity in that the function of governance and decision-making should be devolved to the level of government closest to affected communities.
Standing together for Canterbury, we celebrate a win for any part of the region as a win for the whole region. And during hard times and when disaster strikes, we all pitch in to help. A wise and balanced approach to sustainable development requires ‘gifts and gains’, recognition of our diverse interests and values, and reaching an agreement where we can without pushing for consensus where it does not exist.
Our shared future
The local government sector is going through a significant period of change. The next three years will likely see the greatest change to local authorities across New Zealand since the reforms of 1989, perhaps since the abolition of the Provincial Government in 1877. Fundamentally, the current Government reforms will alter the shape and functions of local government, with impacts on the local communities they serve.
Collectively, the proposed reforms aim to deliver better outcomes for communities and the environment, drive efficiency improvements and give effect to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Whether the proposed reforms deliver better outcomes will rely heavily on which ones proceed and how they are implemented. Ensuring a strong local voice through the change process and on into the design of the outcomes will be important to ensure the success of the reforms for local communities.
The reforms cover a broad range of services and respond to matters including water infrastructure, resource management, emergency management, health, climate change, and the future of local government. The proposed reforms will have significant impacts on the composition of district and regional authorities, relationships within local government and the provision of services.
The Canterbury Mayoral Forum wants to take every opportunity to influence the reform programme to ensure its ability to continue to advocate for and support its local communities and to influence and shape the local government’s future for the Canterbury community. There is a willingness to work with neighbouring Mayoral Forums and groups to extend this to a Te Waipounamu/South Island collaborative governance future.
The Mayoral Forum has made submissions on Government reform legislation to provide the Canterbury view and will continue to do so. The submissions on the reform legislation and He mata whāriki, he matawhānui (review into the future for local government draft report October 2022) are available on this website.
A key priority for the Mayoral Forum this triennium is to work collectively on how the reform processes will play out for our communities. All of the reforms have a significant move towards regionalisation of activities and decision-making – it is important for our communities that they can also see the ‘local’, and in particular ‘their local’.
Our priorities
To achieve its long-term vision, the Mayoral Forum has identified three priority issues for the Mayoral Forum’s leadership, facilitation and advocacy in this local government term:
- Sustainable environmental management of our habitats (land, air, water and ecosystems) – focusing on land use and freshwater management
- Shared prosperity for all our communities – focusing on building on our economic strengths and developing emerging sectors, growing, attracting and retaining a skilled workforce, improving the transport network and coordinating strategies for housing our communities
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation – reducing our carbon footprint, working together on climate action planning, building community resilience, and making our infrastructure as strong as it can be.
The selection of these three priority areas does not mean that other issues are unimportant. Some have greater sub-regional than regional significance (for example public and active transport is primarily an issue for the Greater Christchurch Partnership), some issues are well on the way to being addressed through other avenues, and there are a number of issues of importance that the Mayoral Forum care deeply about but have little or no ability to influence (for example mental health and suicide).
As in 2019, the Mayoral Forum used three sets of criteria to narrow a long list of issues.
Importance
- Is this issue critical to the wellbeing of the region in 5-10 years’ time? If we do nothing, will the issue still be important in 5-10 years’ time?
- Does this issue have sufficient scale, scope and complexity to require a regional focus?
- Is this issue already being managed effectively by another agency or organisation?
Democratic mandate
- Is there strong public concern about the issue?
- Do our councils (elected members) care about the issue?
Impact
- Can the Mayoral Forum influence outcomes in a measurable way and if so, how?
In determining these priority areas, we have used Treasury’s Living Standards Framework to prompt our thinking about wellbeing and policy impacts, and the interdependent nature of wellbeing across the four aspects that make up the wealth of Aotearoa New Zealand – the natural environment, financial and physical capital, social cohesion, and human capability.
Sustainable environmental management of our habitats
Canterbury is New Zealand’s largest region by land area. We have:
- 21% of New Zealand’s highest-quality soils
- 19% of the total area farmed in New Zealand
- Around 70% of New Zealand’s groundwater
- 64% of the country’s irrigated land area
- More than 4,700 lakes and tarns, over 78,000 km of rivers and streams, 800 km of coastline and 11,620 km2 of coastal marine area.
Past land use decisions, agricultural intensification since the 1970s and increased urbanisation have, however, increased pressure on the region’s rivers, streams and groundwater aquifers, and on indigenous biodiversity.
In 2009, the Mayoral Forum launched the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) and continues to oversee its implementation. In 2019, the Forum commissioned the Fit for Future project to develop 2025 and 2030 goals for the ten target areas of the CWMS and a regional work programme to support the delivery of the strategy. The CWMS is currently undergoing review in light of the Government’s Essential Freshwater Package.
The Mayoral Forum will continue oversight of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.
One of the most pressing actions, which contributes to environmental sustainability, shared prosperity and climate change, is ongoing advocacy for permanent co-investment by the Government in flood protection. Flooding is the leading most commonly occurring natural hazard in New Zealand – we only have to look across the country over the past few years to see this. Canterbury, with its more than 78,000km worth of rivers and streams, continues to be at huge risk of more events like those we saw in 2021. Future flood management solutions must consider ecological, environmental, whole of catchment and Te Mana o te Wai considerations, alongside spatial planning, managed retreat, building control and community preparedness responses.
The cost of improving the resilience of the protection provided by current schemes is significant, with regional councils estimating the shortfall of investment to be in the order of $150m per annum nationally. Flood protection schemes protect local and national assets and contribute to more sustainable regional economies. Permanent co-investment in flood protection shifts the focus from disaster relief and rehabilitation towards necessary top-of-the-cliff mitigation of flood risks, with reduced long-term costs.
The Mayoral Forum will strongly advocate with Government on the regional councils’ business case for permanent co-investment from the Government on this issue, an updated version of which was presented to the Government in 2022.
A key part of sustainable environments is also enabling flourishing biodiversity. Native biodiversity in New Zealand is unique – many of our plants, birds, bats, insects, fungi, reptiles and fish are only found on our islands.
We have a collective responsibility to safeguard our biodiversity for present and future generations. As part of this, the Mayoral Forum supported the formation of the regional Biodiversity Champions in the last local government term, an elected member group with representatives from all of Canterbury’s councils, who work together to promote biodiversity and advocate for the role of councils and communities in weaving biodiversity through Canterbury’s living and working landscapes.
The Mayoral Forum will continue to support the Biodiversity Champions this term as the key conduit to facilitate work across the region on the revitalisation of the Canterbury Biodiversity Strategy, the development of a regional biodiversity monitoring framework and implementation of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity.
Shared prosperity for all our communities
We want to build on Canterbury’s strengths and create shared prosperity for all our communities. In the last Plan for Canterbury, we focused on shared economic prosperity, but have now reframed this so that we reflect and include important social prosperity indicators and measures in this Plan.
Sharing prosperity amongst all of Canterbury’s communities means all of us can benefit, ensuring better and more sustainable futures for ourselves and future generations.
Canterbury has many natural advantages, significant infrastructure, and a range of universities and research institutes. We are well-placed for research-informed innovation in sustainable primary production and high-value manufacturing that lifts productivity and the prosperity of our region.
Despite this, Canterbury’s GDP per person still lags behind the country as a whole. To lift wages and incomes, we need more skilled jobs and skilled workers to fill them – through ‘growing our own’ but also by attracting and retaining newcomers through internal and external migration.
The Mayoral Forum will continue to engage with the Canterbury Regional Skills Leadership Group as it develops workforce plans for the region, and advocate with the Government for immigration and skills policies that work for Canterbury.
To build on our strengths, we need a sustained focus on the region’s key industries, as well as an eye to transitioning the economy and developing emerging sectors. We know that agriculture plays a significantly more important role in Canterbury’s economy than those of Auckland or Wellington, and generates a significant amount of economic activity from supporting industries including manufacturing, transport and warehousing, and financial and insurance services. Diversifying and adding value to our agricultural production improves market resilience and has the potential to reduce environmental impact.
The Mayoral Forum will continue to encourage, support and advocate for research and investment in diversifying and adding value to our agricultural production.
We also need to be ready to pick up and support opportunities in emerging sectors. For example, there are opportunities to support new technologies in the energy sector, as renewable energies become a more and more important part of responding to climate change impacts. In addition, Canterbury is home to a burgeoning aerospace industry because of its topography, infrastructure and proximity to international air- and sea- ports. There are exciting prospects ahead that will benefit us all.
Our region has a vast transport network. It is how we connect with each other, within Canterbury, the South Island, the rest of the country and internationally. Transport strongly influences economic development, supporting supply chains that are critical for getting our exports to market and imports back to us. The system faces a number of challenges; an increase in the number of severe weather events around the country means that the transport network needs to be more resilient than ever. Climate change effects highlight the importance of reducing transport emissions and encouraging the use of sustainable modes of transport.
Maintaining and renewing our transport system to keep it fit for purpose requires significant investment. Current funding sources from local authorities and the National Land Transport Fund will not meet current needs, particularly when faced with resilience issues.
It is estimated that an additional $1 billion is required over the next 10 years to materially impact issues such as maintenance and emissions reductions. Although there is no simple solution, there are options to be investigated. The Mayoral Forum will continue to support the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee, and the Ministry of Transport, to investigate options to increase the level of funding available for the transport network in Canterbury.
The Mayoral Forum will seek to partner and collaborate with Government to develop an integrated approach to transport funding in Canterbury in order to increase the level of funding available for Canterbury transport networks.
Prosperity is also about looking after ourselves and each other, celebrating our diversity and taking pride in our common identity as Cantabrians. We know that the pandemic has exacerbated the demand for mental health services in Canterbury, which was already elevated following the 2010-11 earthquakes and the 2019 terrorist attack. Hearteningly, in the 2021 General Social Survey, 85% of Cantabrians rated their overall life satisfaction between 7-10 (on a scale where zero is completely dissatisfied and 10 is completely satisfied). This was higher than the national average, as well as higher than those in Auckland and Wellington respectively.
The Mayoral Forum maintains close and regular engagement with the Regional Public Service Commissioner, who is leading a joined-up work programme across Government on the following social wellbeing priorities:
- all tamariki and rangatahi in Canterbury reach their full potential (including actions focused on school engagement and attendance)
- transitioning Canterbury to become a more highly productive and sustainable economy
- equitable access to services, safe housing and tenure
- addressing family violence and sexual violence
- ensuring whanau have access to services, and resources and live in healthy environments that support mental wellbeing.
The Forum has much to contribute to this work programme given how close local government is to its communities. We will continue to support and monitor progress in these critical priority areas.
Relatedly, one of the priorities for the Forum this term will be developing a regional housing strategy. Many councils own and manage social housing, as well as supporting trusts and other community organisations to build affordable housing. Safe, secure and affordable housing is key to enhancing wellbeing and therefore prosperity. We know that in some parts of Canterbury, the key issue is the quantity and/or quality of social housing, while in others it is access to affordable housing, and in other areas, the issue is the volume of housing stock available – and in some places, it is a mix of all three.
Housing shortages can cause significant issues for the ability of businesses to employ the staff they need, particularly in rural and regional areas. The tight accommodation puts off prospective employees and in some areas, employers have given up advertising roles because they know even if they can find the labour, they cannot find housing for them.
The labour market, particularly for seasonal workers, is an incredibly tight labour market, which in some instances, is driven by the lack of affordable worker accommodation.
The Mayoral Forum will develop a regional housing strategy that will identify the range of housing issues affecting communities across the region and a pathway forward to improve them.
The Forum also recognises we live in a landscape with a range of natural hazards, particularly floods, fires and earthquakes. There is a 75% probability of an Alpine Fault earthquake occurring in the next 50 years, and there is a four out of five chance that it will be a magnitude 8+ event.
The Forum wants to ensure that our communities are as prepared as possible for such an event and that people, homes, livelihoods and communities are protected from the worst impacts.
The Mayoral Forum will support the work of the Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Joint Committee on preparing for major natural hazard incidents, including an Alpine Fault rupture.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation
Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time and has systemic and intergenerational impacts. It affects our weather, health and wellbeing, natural environment, taonga species, mahinga kai, food production, biosecurity, infrastructure, and economy.
Responding to climate change is an urgent issue. We are already seeing its impacts in more frequent droughts, extreme weather events and flooding, coastal erosion, and increased fire risk. The May 2021 floods in Canterbury are a clear example of this.
As a region, we need to reduce our carbon emissions and do what we can to mitigate the effects of climate change. We also need to prepare for the changes that are ahead of us and respond to the social, environmental and economic effects of our changing climate.
The Government released its first Emissions Reduction Plan in 2022. It is the first statutory plan, under the Climate Change Response Act, to require the Government to act to reduce emissions right across the economy, supports the transition, and seize the opportunity to lower the cost of living and improve living standards.
The Government also released the National Adaptation Plan in 2022. The Plan sets out how New Zealand will build resilience for an uncertain future. It contains more than 120 actions, and the Ministry for the Environment has published a summary of what the Plan will mean for local government more specifically.
In October 2022 the Ministry for the Environment published the Pricing Agricultural Emissions consultation document, and the Ministry for Primary Industries published a National Direction for plantation and exotic carbon afforestation discussion paper.
Further, as part of the suite of resource management changes, the Government intends to introduce a Climate Change Adaptation Bill in 2023. The legislation will seek to address complex issues associated with managed retreat, and funding and financing climate adaptation.
Responding to climate change underpins the priority we give to environmental management and extends to:
- measuring and reducing our own carbon footprint as individual councils
- contributing to the design of Government policy and regulation and advocating for strong Government leadership through multi-party agreements to minimise political short-termism
- planning ahead in our Long-Term Plans and 30-year Infrastructure Strategies to make our infrastructure as resilient as it can be.
Regional response to climate change
The Canterbury Mayoral Forum published the Canterbury Climate Change Risk Assessment in early 2022, which has been designed to build a shared understanding of climate change risks across the region and to help us prepare and respond effectively. The assessment centres around a framework that aligns both a Te Ao Māori worldview and the National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA) framework.
Te Whāriki o te Ora – The black ring represents whakapapa, or genealogical connection, that extends from the spiritual realm to that of the human domain. It recognises that humans cannot exist without basic needs and a social foundation.
Te Ao Mārama – The green ring represents the area in which humans can exist when we are functioning within the capacity of our ecosystems. Ngā pono (the values) identified within this circle are critical for us to understand and respond to when considering climate risk.
Hā Tuamātangi – The red ring represents the upper limit in which humans, environments and ecosystems can continue to exist. Beyond this boundary, it is no longer possible to respond to risks proactively.
Understanding the risks and opportunities of climate change now and into the future is a vital step in our efforts to curb its long-term impact in our region.
The Mayoral Forum will oversee a Canterbury-wide climate change partnership plan, which will confirm a collaborative vision for regional adaptation planning, an ‘urgency assessment’ to support prioritising climate actions, and a funding plan laying out a regional/aligned approach for accessing finance for climate actions in Canterbury.
Relationship engagement and management
Building positive and enduring relationships with mana whenua, the business community, central government, and our wider communities will play a key part in achieving our goals this term.
In working alongside mana whenua, a joint understanding of what partnership means will be important. The Forum wants to grow its collaboration with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu as the Treaty partner in the region, as well as with the 10 Canterbury Papatipu Rūnanga. We are keen to explore what enabling mechanisms we have to assist the 10 Rūnanga with engaging and collaborating with us on the key issues for our region and communities.
We must also focus on strengthening our relationships with Ministers and Members of Parliament. We can do this by:
- leveraging our individual relationships for the benefit of the whole region
- actively making the most of opportunities to engage with Ministers and our local Canterbury-based MPs
- making better use of advocates through our relationships with regional public sector officials
- take opportunities, such as the Review into the Future for Local Government process, to demonstrate the value and importance of local government
- showcase our successes and the resulting benefits to NZ Inc.
Our relationship with the business community is also crucial to achieving some of our economic development and climate resilience aspirations. We need to work closely with industry groups and representative organisations to understand what the issues are so we can target our advocacy appropriately.
Finally, we don’t underestimate the importance of our relationship with our communities. Engaging Canterbury’s communities in our work, and the work of local government more widely can only serve to strengthen local democracy.
One of the key things we can do is highlight and promote the importance of local government to everyday lives – people use a range of council services each and every day, from when they turn on the shower in the morning, use the transport network to get to and from work or school, borrow a library book, use a swimming pool or simply walk around a park.
Action plan to address priorities
The Mayoral Forum will continue oversight of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.
The Mayoral Forum will strongly advocate with Government on the regional councils’ business case for permanent co-investment from the Government on this issue, an updated version of which was presented to the Government in 2022.
The Mayoral Forum will continue to support the Biodiversity Champions this term as the key conduit to facilitate work across the region on the revitalisation of the Canterbury Biodiversity Strategy, the development of a regional biodiversity monitoring framework and implementation of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity.
The Mayoral Forum will continue to engage with the Canterbury Regional Skills Leadership Group as it develops workforce plans for the region, and advocate with the Government for immigration and skills policies that work for Canterbury.
The Mayoral Forum will continue to encourage, support and advocate for research and investment in diversifying and adding value to our agricultural production.
The Mayoral Forum will seek to partner and collaborate with Government to develop an integrated approach to transport funding in Canterbury in order to increase the level of funding available for Canterbury transport networks.
The Mayoral Forum will develop a regional housing strategy that will identify the range of housing issues affecting communities across the region and a pathway forward to improve them.
The Mayoral Forum will support the work of the Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Joint Committee on preparing for major natural hazard incidents, including an Alpine Fault rupture.
The Mayoral Forum will oversee a Canterbury-wide climate change partnership plan, which will confirm a collaborative vision for regional adaptation planning, an ‘urgency assessment’ to support prioritising climate actions, and a funding plan laying out a regional/aligned approach for accessing finance for climate actions in Canterbury.