Correction
At their recent meeting the Horowhenua District Council voted on options for public consultation about vehicle access to Waikawa Beach. See HDC will consult public on options for Miratana Track vehicle access and no access.
There was a small but inconsequential error in that post, to do with Significance and Standing Orders and whether a motion is carried or lost.
Councillors voted on whether or not to go to wider public consultation about vehicle access at 10 Reay Mackay Grove. The vote was split, with 5 for and 5 against and so was not carried. HDC Standing Orders say about a split vote:
Resolution Number CO/2022/112
MOVED by Mayor Wanden, seconded Cr Brannigan:
That Council adopt the option that the Mayor or Chairperson, or any other person presiding at a meeting, only has a deliberative vote, and that in the event of an equality of votes for any question, that question would be lost.
CARRIED
Significance and split votes
I asked Monique Davidson, HDC Chief Executive | Tumuaki about Significance (also mentioned in the post linked above) and the vote on the 10 Reay Mackay Grove consultation option. I had thought the two were connected. They are not. Monique explained:
It’s a funny old thing the significance and engagement policy, the best way I can explain it is it’s a guide to determine how important something is and the level of importance (significance) depends on the nature in which we should seek community input and feedback.
When something isn’t significant, Council can just make a decision. But when something is significant we should consult - for each of these issues there are different thresholds on what the level of engagement should be. Some of our work will require a very comprehensive engagement process, some more “light touch”.
We are currently reviewing the policy, but in essence the policy should identify how and when communities can expect to be engaged or consulted on decisions.
Re: the 5, 5 split (because 3 were away). Our standing orders rule that when there is a split the status quo prevails, so in this case it means the resolution is lost.
During the meeting the Significance level was raised, in part because of the extremely high public interest in the item.
Next steps
I asked Stephan Titze, HDC Parks and Property Project Lead | Kaihautū Kaupapa Papa Rēhia, Rawa about next steps with the public consultation Councillors voted for. He replied:
given the controversial matter (especially around the "do nothing" option), I am off the opinion that an independent service provider such as Boffa Miskell will be better suited for the engagement process which for sure will be led by council officers such as myself.
Therefor, I still plan to engage Boffa Miskell for the consultation process and the evaluation of the received related feedback.
Such approach will also support a potential resource consent application process if such decision will be made by the council after the wider public consultation process.
I wasn't given any indicative timing, but I would expect that Council officers and Boffa Miskell will need a few weeks to plan out an effective consultation, to prepare materials and to organise any processes such as meetings. With any luck consultation will be in progress before the summer holidays. I'm sure the community will be glad to have this matter settled.
The consultation options
Meanwhile, start thinking about the options that will be presented for consultation:
- Retain current vehicular access with lease agreement and provision of maintenance budget without application for river training (river cut)
- Retain current vehicular access with lease agreement and provision of maintenance budget including an application for river training (river cut)
- Would you prefer no vehicle access from Waikawa Beach? Note: this would not ban vehicles from the beach. It would mean that vehicles would be unable to access the beach from the Waikawa Beach area. People could still drive to a place where vehicle access is available such as Ōtaki or Hokio Beach and drive to Waikawa Beach from there.
A future Beach Bylaw
It has been mentioned several times that HDC are starting the process of drafting a Beach Bylaw. I'll write another post soon about Beach Bylaws and policies around NZ.
Update, 14 October 2023: heh, I already did that: Balanced beaches: birds, babies, bikes, boats, published on: Thursday, 26 January 2023 at 12:04:56.
