An Otago Regional Council-commissioned report examining the issues facing Otago Harbour has recommended a collaborative multi-party approach to address increasing pressures on the waterway.
Council’s Manager Strategy, Hilary Lennox says the Te Awa Ōtākou (Otago Harbour) Issues and Opportunities report is not a specific management plan or strategy for the harbour, but an overview of issues and opportunities, along with a recommended approach for addressing these.
“A key outcome of this work is the strengthened partnership between mana whenua, ORC, and Dunedin City Council, which provides a foundation for future governance and decision-making,” said Ms Lennox.
Council Chair, Gretchen Robertson highlighted the widespread values of Te Awa Ōtākou (Otago Harbour) for everyone, given the environmental, recreational, cultural and commercial values attached to the harbour.
“This report offers a great opportunity for ORC’s councillors to consider how we could work with the community to protect and enhance these values into the future,” she says.
Ms Lennox says the Te Awa Ōtākou report includes engagement with more than 40 individuals and organisations, including two workshops with Otago and Dunedin City councillors.
She says mana whenua play a central role as kaitiaki (guardians) of the harbour, with deep ancestral, cultural, and economic connections to these waters.
“Their voices have been carefully woven into the report to ensure that their historical knowledge and aspirations can help shape future management strategies,” Ms Lennox says.
All parties involved in this process are seeking decisive, long-term planning and actions to be taken, she said.
There are pressures from land development, roading, stormwater and wastewater management, dredging, land reclamation and fishing, leading to habitat degradation, pollution and the loss of ecological, recreational, and cultural values – all to a backdrop of rising sea levels, says Ms Lennox.
The report provides examples of the extensive ongoing efforts by mana whenua, councils and national government agencies, communities, businesses and conservation groups, Ms Lennox said.
However, the report notes that much of this is focussed on specific aspects or areas and there is not the level of collective understanding, vision and objectives for the wider harbour area.
There is also not a mechanism in place for coordinating planning, funding, and resources toward optimising the effort nor assessing potential negative consequences of some interventions on the system or other users, she says.
Council staff are recommending an Integrated Catchment Management approach be adopted to provide a structured plan for collaboration, where an Integrated Catchment Group would be established which would in turn create a collaborative Catchment Action Plan.
“A Catchment Action Plan would articulate an agreed vision and supporting goals for the care and enhancement of Te Awa Ōtākou, as well as the prioritisation of actions toward achieving those goals,” Ms Lennox says.
The extensive feedback for the report, from a large cross-section of the harbour community, was analysed and summarised into seven themes of accessibility, environmental health, tourism, arts and culture, infrastructure resilience, climate resilience and governance.
Ms Lennox thanked the numerous individuals, mana whenua and organisations who took the time to contribute, including consultants Morphum Environmental and Aukaha who made significant contributions to the final report.
The harbour report will go to Otago Regional Councillors today, and to Dunedin City Councillors on 26 March.
