5. Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) Link to this
to the Minister for the Environment
When will the Minister make a decision on the Environment Court recommendation for approval of the Whangamata Marina resource consents?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Minister for the Environment) Link to this
I have written to the Environment Court seeking clarification of some issues, and once the Environment Court has responded to that request I hope to be in a position to make a decision.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Why, when this resource consent has now been in the process for 13 years and when Ministers in his Government have been directly responsible for 14 months of delays, has the Minister not met the 20-working-day requirement for giving a decision by Friday 17 November, and, as he is the Minister responsible for the Resource Management Act, what sort of example is he setting for councils and others considering consents when he takes so long to make a decision?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
I need to make it clear to the member and to the House that this process is a court process and not any process that I have determined.
Sandra GoudieWhy has the Minister lodged a whole series of questions to the Environment Court on its decision on the Whangamata marina when it has spent over 20 days in hearings considering the evidence; and what does this say about his level of confidence, as Minister for the Environment, in the Environment Court?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
I lodged the questions because I wish for the court to clarify some issues.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Who will pay the $90,000 awarded by the court against Chris Carter’s illegal decision?
Does the Minister, as Minister responsible for the workings of the Resource Management Act, consider it acceptable that the Whangamata Marina Society has had to spend $1.4 million and 13 years in trying to get a resource consent?
Peter BrownNoting those answers, does the Minister appreciate that the people of Whangamata have spent a lot of time and money in going through the correct legal processes, and that they are entitled to an answer; and does he not feel inclined to at least recommend to his colleague that that answer should come immediately, and preferably in support of the Environment Court’s recommendation?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
Can I repeat for the member my answer to the primary question. I have written to the Environment Court seeking clarification of some issues, and once the court has responded to that request I hope to be in a position to make a decision.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Does the Minister think it is fair that when a marina society wants to build a marina on the Whangamata waterfront it is subject to 14 years of resource management process, but when Trevor Mallard wants to build a 60,000 seat stadium on the Auckland waterfront, the Government will override all that law and have it done within a few months, and is this not a case of one rule for the average citizen and a different law for the Government?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
I am not about to enter into a debate about the member’s idle speculation.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. For the Minister to reply to a question—a quite legitimate question that is on the public’s mind, to the Minister in charge of the Resource Management Act, as to why there should be one set of rules for the Whangamata Marina but quite a different set of rules for a stadium—and for the Minister to say he just will not comment, I do not think meets the Standing Orders’ requirement for a Minister to address the question.
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
Speaking to the point of order, the primary question was clearly about the responsibility that has been transferred to me in terms of this decision. It had nothing to do with my other separate responsibilities for the Resource Management Act.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
The Minister will note that question No. 5 is set down for the Minister for the Environment. The Minister for the Environment is responsible, by statute, for the administration of the Resource Management Act. For him to now argue that he will answer this question only in respect of the very narrow responsibilities delegated to him around the Whangamata Marina is quite out of order, and he should have to address the question.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Unfortunately, the problem the member has in this regard is that this question can be addressed only to the Minister for the Environment because he has been delegated this particular decision, and, therefore, the question is solely about that particular decision.
Madam SPEAKERI thank the members. The question is rather narrowly expressed. However, I believe that the Minister addressed the question. Obviously it was not in a way that was satisfactory to the member, but he did address it and others will determine whether it was adequate.
R Doug Woolerton