Minutes of Hawke's Bay Drinking Water Governance Joint Committee

Unconfirmed

NOTES FROM A meeting of the Hawke's Bay Drinking Water Governance Joint Committee

Date: Friday 4 December 2020

Time: 10.00am

Venue:

Council Chamber

Hawke's Bay Regional Council

159 Dalton Street

NAPIER

Present: G Cowrie - Chair

Mayor S Hazlehurst - HDC

A Apatu – HB DHB

Mayor C Little - WDC

Cr N Simpson – NCC

Cr R Chrystal – NCC

In Attendance: Liz Lambert

J Lloyd – CHBDC

Dr N Jones – HBDHB

T Goodlass – NCC

C Thew – HDC

Peter Martin – Senior Governance Advisor

Annelie Roets – Governance Administration Assistant (assisted)

1. Welcome/Apologies/Notices

The Chair welcomed everyone and Ana Apatu opened the meeting with a karakia.

The meeting start time was delayed until 10.13am to allow a quorum to be achieved, however, only six Committee members attended with eight being the minimum required for a quorum.

The meeting therefore lapsed and closed at 10.15am

Apologies were received from Councillors Hinewai Ormsby, Kevin Watkins, and Brent Muggeridge, Mayor Alex Walker and Shayne Walker.

Closure:

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the workshop closed at 10.15am on Friday 4 December 2020.

Those present proceeded with informal discussions in a workshop environment.

Six Principles of Safe Drinking Water

Liz Lambert delivered a Powerpoint presentation, noting:

· Committee members need to fully understand the principles as outlined in the report

· Community expectations are high and there is a very high duty of care required from drinking water suppliers

· A copy of the presentation is to be circulated electronically to all attendees.

Information and Data Sharing Project

Liz Lambert led discussion on data sharing with comments being:

· Sharing already occurs in some areas, but much more required

· Suggestion that HB based Councils and Health bodies approach DIA to be a pilot area for establishing a sharing portal or similar, however it was noted that additional resources would be needed if a pilot is undertaken

· Proceeding without actually understanding future DIA requirements may lead to a waste of effort and resources

· Sharing information can lead to action, and the Joint working group is looking into aspects of who would be responsible for taking action

· DIA will be visiting HB in March 2020

· Taumata Arowai may not be ready for a pilot; they are busy designing policy

· Funding of any solutions is going to be a major issue

· The members present requested that a letter be sent to Department of Internal Affairs, Taumata Arowai and MfE to consider undertaking a pilot project for the development of an information and data sharing system to meet the needs of all agencies involved in drinking water safety within the Hawke’s Bay region. Toni Goodlass undertook to draft a letter.

TANK Submissions on Drinking Water Provisions

Liz Lambert discussed a proposed submission to the TANK plan change with commentary covering:

· No objections yet regarding source protection zones

· Need to consider the level / numbers covered by protection zones. Currently the minimum population required for protection of a drinking water source is 500. Need to look to cover much smaller communities as well; potentially all registered suppliers.

· The Water Service Bill is likely to be enacted whilst TANK changes are still underway

· The Committee wants to support submissions from other HB Councils and HBDHB on submissions to TANK for the Drinking Water Provisions. Also wanting to lower the population requirement to be 25 minimum

· Liz Lambert will prepare a submission to TANK on behalf of the Committee, for lodging within timeframes and retrospective approval at the first available Joint Committee meeting.

6.	Working Group Work Plan Update
	Liz Lambert led discussion about the work plan, outlining changes made which received support from the Committee members present.

Verbal Regional Three Waters Update

Toni Goodlass delivered a verbal report, covering:

· HB Councils have entered into an MoU with Government re Three Waters service delivery, making Councils eligible for $50M from the national fund of $761M.

· Private suppliers could qualify for funding support to meet the new standards

· A Regional Engineering Code of Practice is being considered

· HB Three Waters website will provide public information about projects

· When established, Committee members signed an MoU including comprehensive information sharing about asset quality and delivery system issues

· Government moving fast on all water changes and there are doubts that industry has the capacity to respond

· Those present requested that Toni Goodlass produce a letter to be sent to LGNZ about the poor response from DIA to three waters reviews, particularly cultural aspects.

10.	Other Matters
	Ana Apatu raised an issue about effluent discharges from overcrowded properties with septic tanks, and reporting such occurrences as well as solutions for individual properties and whanau.

A closing karakia was led by Ana Apatu.

Signed as a true and correct record.

DATE: ................................................ CHAIRMAN: ...............................................