Centre for Resource Management Information Paper series

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Social characteristics of New Zealand hydrotowns : A case study
(Centre for Resource Management, 1983) Taylor, C. N.; Bettesworth, C. M.
Our aim in this case study has been to examine the existing literature and database on the social characteristics of hydrotowns as part of a comparative study of rapid growth and resource development in New Zealand. One intention of this comparative work is to provide a better conceptual basis for understanding the social implications of resource development. Some initial ideas derived from the case study research are presented by Taylor and McClintock (1983) and further work is proceeding. Issues for planning new rapidly expanded settlements in association with a resource development, and ideas for ensuring that community development is considered early in planning, are being reported elsewhere. We expect that further research on hydrotowns as part of the more general study of New Zealand resource communities will only be conducted by ourselves on a selective basis in response either to particular planning or theoretical issues. One such issue involves the winding down of major construction projects. We are currently researching in detail the life history and future of Twizel to obtain a better understanding of this process.
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Towards integration: A study of the integrated management of sedimentation in Lyttelton Harbour: Report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Resource Management
(Lincoln University, 1995) Jackson, Andrea; McKessar, Jane; Sadler, Lillie; Willis, Andrew; Zygadlo, Frania
Coastal management in the past has been fragmented. The Resource Management Act 1991 and the new statutory requirements for plans represents an attempt at a more integrated approach. Our aim in this report is to see whether this new system will achieve integrated management. We recognise however, that integrated management is a process as well as an end, and that these two necessarily overlap.
Open Access
Water quality management
(Centre for Resource Management, 1988) Ward, Jonet; Talbot, Joy
Since comprehensive legislation for water conservation came into force more than 20 years ago, management of water quality in New Zealand has been undertaken almost exclusively through the administration of water rights. This has resulted in a type of management primarily concerned with pollution control, specifically the regulation of pollutants from point source discharges, rather than one dealing with all aspects of water quality problems such as eutrophication, chronic and cumulative effects of pollutants and different cultural needs. In recent years, as the need for 'clean water' has outgrown local water resources in some regions and as New Zealanders have become more environmentally aware and more vocal in their demands for higher standards of environmental quality, limitations of both the water rights system and of the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 (and Amendments) have been recognised.
Open Access
Guidelines for community odour assessment
(Lincoln University. Department of Resource Management / Lincoln Environmental, 1998-06) Blackford, C.; Greer, Glen; Young, James B.
This project has been partially funded under the Ministry for the Environment's Sustainable Management Fund and contributes towards maintaining air quality in New Zealand. The management of effects of odour-producing activities has been limited to some degree by the fact that firm guidelines for gathering complaints had not been developed and that the international air quality regulatory community appeared to have been slow to develop standardised procedures for carrying out odour surveys and for determining overall community response to actual or perceived odour problems. In other words, there has been a need for procedures with which to collect subjective information using recognised objective approaches. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on a range of standardised techniques that can be used to establish when community odour problems exist and the magnitude of the problem. The guidelines focus on sociological and associated methods of community odour assessment and provide means by which local authority officers or the operators of odour producing facilities can investigate whether facilities are causing adverse effects (in terms of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA)) or nuisance or offensiveness (in terms of the Health Act 1956). The odour assessment techniques proposed were identified through consultation with the tangata whenua and the National Air Quality Working Group, a review of the relevant international literature, a survey of local authority staff and interviews with people in communities where odour is a problem. Guidelines are provided for: 1) community surveys (questioning on one occasion); 2)odour diaries; 3) community odour panels (questioning on several occasions); 4) public meetings; 5) working parties; 6) consultation with the tangata whenua; 7) community consultation. We have assumed two broad situations in which the techniques might be used. One is for internal monitoring purposes where the organisation does not intend to use the data collected in legal proceedings. In this instance the guidelines can serve as a guide to good practice. The second situation where information could be or is expected to be presented as evidence in legal proceedings. In this latter instance it is important that a recognised expert in question and sample design and data analysis be engaged to ensure that the evidence meets the requirements for admissibility.
Open Access
Modelling and mapping timber yield and its value using geographical information systems : a study of Sitka spruce and beech
(Lincoln University. Department of Resource Management / Lincoln Environmental., 1997-09) Bateman Ian, J; Lovett Andrew, A
A geographical information system (GIS) is used to combine and analyse data from a existing large-area databases concerning tree growth, plantation management and the environmental characteristics of planted sites in Wales. The databases included the UK Forestry Commission Sub-Compartment Database (SCDB), the Soil Survey and Land Research Centre Land Information System (LandIS), Forestry Commission topographic shelter data, and a digital elevation model for Wales. Regression analysis techniques were employed to estimate yield class models for Sitka spruce [Picea sitchensis] and beech [Fagus sylvatica], which were chosen as representative conifer and broadleaved species. The GIS was then used to extrapolate results and generate maps of predicted yield for the whole of Wales. Models of timber costs and revenues (including subsidies) were then used to convert these results into maps of timber values for use in forest investment planning.
Open Access
Non market valuation in New Zealand
(Lincoln University and University of Canterbury.Centre for Resource Management., 1988-07) Kerr, Geoffrey N.
There is a demand for non-market valuation information in New Zealand which is likely to increase with current "more-market" policies. Information needs range from identifying non-market values, through methods for incorporating them in the decision-making process, to methods of measurement. New Zealand's unique cultural environment may preclude the wholesale adoption of approaches used elsewhere. There is a need for verification of overseas approaches. A small group of New Zealand researchers have gained competence in applying methods of measurement developed overseas and are in a position to make advances of international significance. The Centre for Resource Management intends to co-ordinate non-market valuation research in New Zealand in order to maximise the benefits of that research to all New Zealanders.
Open Access
Pines, pulp and people : a case study of New Zealand forestry towns
(Lincoln College and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1983) McClintock, Wayne; Taylor, Nick
New Zealand is currently experiencing a major restructuring of the productive base of its economy in response to wider changes in the world economic system. A number of major resource development projects are being promoted in the petro-chemical and basic metal processing industries while in other sectors of the economy a rationalisation process has resulted in plant closures. The rapid growth or sudden decline in population associated with these events has had a dramatic impact on community life in towns such as Whangarei, New Plymouth, and Patea. The phenomenon of "boom and bust" is not new to New Zealand. Since the 1930s, when the Labour Government gave a new direction to New Zealand's economic development by encouraging the growth of domestic manufacturing, there have been a number of major resource industries established in rural areas. In the early 1950s, pulp and paper mills were established at Kawerau and Kinleith to harness the rapidly maturing stands of pinus radiata in the forests of the Central North Island region. This move initiated a period of rapid growth in New Zealand's forest industries and had a dramatic social and economic impact on the region. In this paper we report the findings of a study of New Zealand's forestry towns which have been associated with this rapid growth. It is our hope that these findings will enable planners better to assess new projects, and to develop improved strategies that will mitigate the effects of rapid industrialisation on community and individual welfare.
Open Access
Risk and uncertainty
(Lincoln College and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1988-07) Gough, Janet D.
This paper presents an overview of the risk literature, concentrating on general approaches to risk analysis and risk assessment. We believe that this is an essential first step towards the setting of guidelines or the adoption of a regulatory procedure for all situations where risk to humans and their environment is involved. We have used the term environmental risk to encompass these situations. Of necessity, political risk is also a factor.
Open Access
Phosphorus losses through transfer, soil erosion and runoff : processes and implications
(Lincoln College and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1985-12) Ward, Jonet C.; Talbot, J. M.; Denne, T.; Abrahamson, Michael
Phosphate rock is a strategic material upon which pastoral agriculture and all New Zealanders depend. Phosphate fertilizer has no close substitute, and is, therefore an important limiting factor to agricultural productivity. The future wellbeing of the country depends on its efficient acquisition, manufacture, distribution and use. This report is part of a larger cross-disciplinary study carried out by Centre staff on the multiple dimensions of phosphate management in New Zealand. The report presents an examination of phosphorus losses from the production system and the attendant consequences on environmental quality. Special emphasis is given to hill country loss mechanism, where it is known that significant amounts of phosphate fertilizer are picked up in surface runoff and/or are displaced by grazing animals. The longer term consequences of nutrient loading on downstream water bodies are discussed, and the policy and management implications for maintaining current water quality levels are highlighted.
Open Access
Perceiving, conceiving, protecting and using New Zealand landscape systems
(Lincoln University and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1986) Swaffield, Simon R.; O'Connor, K. F.
The biogeography of New Zealand is summarised for its influence on current landscapes and conservation needs. The classification of terrain in New Zealand is historically summarised. The present changes in land use and resource administration are outlined. Landscape usage is reviewed as perception and concept and comparative etymology examined to trace usage change. Cultural and natural littleness is identified as key to promoting landship, nature conservation and wise use planning.
Open Access
Natural resource accounting : a technique for improving planning in New Zealand?
(Lincoln University and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management, 1989-06) Wright, Janice
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the summary record of how landscape has been perceived and thought about in New Zealand and to interpret the role of such perceptions and conceptions in providing unity and order in the contemporary nature conservation programme of New Zealand. It will also indicate the potential integration of protected natural areas with development, and suggest their relevance to the cultural identities and local and regional land use patterns of this country.
Open Access
FOCUS: a computer program for analysing systems : user manual and guide
(Lincoln College and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1988-07) Penno, M. R.; White, E. G.
FOCUS is a user-friendly computer program to generate the changing appearance of a system as an observer changes the viewing criteria. The criteria are measured by time and space scales and the range of scales is determined by the interests of the user. These interests may apply to any organised system but FOCUS has been documented in the context of resource studies. In that context, the controlling structure and functioning of a managed resource system might be compared over long and short terms and over local and regional areas. The program further permits a comparison of alternative system regimes, such as current and future management prospects, and is used to identify local subsystems. White (1988) gives an illustrated summary of theory and program application in the companion text to this manual. Some elements only are included in the manual and in the documented printout of each FOCUS analysis. Analyses are based on aspects of hierarchy theory and the user is referred to Allen and Starr (1982) and O'Neill et.al. (1986). Program control acts through a menu of options which is re-displayed after each task has been performed. There are 11 numbered options in the main menu. To choose an option the corresponding number should be typed and the carriage return key « RETURN» pressed. If the number entered was not a valid input an error message will be displayed.
Open Access
Risk as a criterion for determining environmental policy priorities
(Lincoln University. Centre for Resource Management., 1992-08) Gough Janet, D
Environmental risk issues comprise a particular subset of this research with specific additional problems resulting mainly from the amount of uncertainty that usually surrounds environmental risk issues. This uncertainty has fuelled public scepticism about experts ability to make accurate assessments and it has proved very difficult to set publicly acceptable levels for environmental risk. Environmental risk issues often carry a very high public profile. Belated discoveries of considerable health risks such as those posed by abandoned hazardous waste sites, long-term low level radiation exposure and water and air pollution have caused the United States Environmental Protection Agency(USEPA) major problems. The Love Canal site near Buffalo, New York, provided a public mandate for the establishment of the Superfund and also initiated a number of other legislative procedures designed to ensure that responsibility for dump sites can be established and that companies and owners can be held accountable. Problems with the management of the Superfund and further examination of the hazardous waste disposal question have shown that there are very many more sites requiring some attention in the United States than was envisaged. The realisation that there was likely to be a shortfall in the funds available for clean up along with concern that there was a discrepancy between agency expenditure on different polices and the degree of risk posed initiated a move towards the use of risk management as a decision making tool. It had become obvious that faulty or poorly managed hazardous waste dumps pose a significant environmental hazard in the United States. The risks involved may actually be considerably less that other environmental risks faced by communities. The question then became how to establish a process for strategic action and the need to set priorities for dealing with environmental hazards.
Open Access
A strategic approach to the use of environmental impact assessment and risk assessment within the decision-making process
(Lincoln College and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1989-03) Gough, Janet D.
The Resource Management Law Reform process presently underway is likely to result in considerable changes being made to the way in which the assessment processes, which are the subject of this work, fit within the revised institutional arrangements. When this project was proposed it was not obvious that these changes would have as major an influence as is presently understood. This uncertainty has made it difficult to make precise recommendations as was originally intended. This is not necessarily to the detriment of the project since the further this research has progressed the more obvious it has become that impact assessment procedures are in general heavily value laden despite a greater tendency towards the use of quantitative methods. This, along with rapidly changing methodologies means that it is important that the institutional basis for impact assessment remains as flexible as possible, whilst ensuring that the protection afforded by proper evaluation and management impacts is available to society. There are two main policy questions regarding impact assessment that must be answered before guidelines can be established. First of all, does society wish to regulate for 'risky' situations or does it wish to use other mechanisms such as voluntary compliance? Secondly, if assessment procedures are to be used as a tool in either case, then who is to be responsible for the analysis? Developers and proponents are looking for clear policy guidelines which: firstly, define the types of allowable activities on a national, regional and local basis; and secondly, define the institutional or regulatory requirements for specific activities. There is a feeling that the problems of dealing with risk will be solved if developers are given a clear guide as to the requirements that must be fulfilled for their project to receive approval. One suggestion is that a checklist capable of being applied to a large number of situations be compiled. The difficulty is that by the time all possible contingencies were covered the checklist would most likely be incomprehensible. This type of approach might, however, be useful for a limited type of development or activity (for example, installations storing or using hazardous substances). Before explicit management guidelines can be specified the policy issues with respect to the use of assessment procedures need to be clarified. This report discusses the policy / management relationship and related issues, but adopts a management perspective. If assessment procedures are to be effective they must be viewed within a management framework where the full range of conditions including implementation of the selected option and monitoring of the impacts can be assessed. This report does not attempt to provide a precise process to be followed for impact assessment. What it does do is: examine the need for such procedures; consider where they fit within the traditional decision-making process; and suggest a generalised approach for dealing with public and private proposals where consent procedures are required. A part of the work presented here in the final part of this project is the product of discussions and correspondence with risk practitioners, or people working in areas involving practical impact assessment. These discussions have been invaluable in the search towards understanding the changing attitudes towards impact assessments in general, risk analysis, risk research and risk management.
Open Access
Integrated environmental monitoring
(Lincoln University. Centre for Resource Management., 1991-12) Ward, Jonet C.
Open Access
The Brundtland report and sustainable development in New Zealand
(Lincoln University and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1991-02) McChesney, Ian
In April 1987, after nearly three years of intensive research, public hearings and debate, the World Commission on Environment and Development issued the report Our Common Future. Commonly referred to as the Brundtland Report (after Chairperson Gro Harlem Brundtland), it focused attention on the need for urgent action to reverse the downward trend of global environmental degradation and increasing poverty. The primary recommendation of the report was for nations to adopt policies of "sustainable development", and to develop a greater sense of multilateralism i.e. strengthen international relationships and develop a 'world view'. Along with all other countries of the world New Zealand was asked to respond to the challenges issued in the Report, and to integrate sustainable development into its national goals. The objective of this publication is to review critically the recommendations of the Brundtland Report, and to examine the issues raised for New Zealand by the recommendations and conclusions of the Report. The main focus is on understanding the implications of "sustainable development" in general terms, rather than considering each aspect of the Report in detail. The structure of this publication is as follows. A brief review of the Brundtland Commission's work and process is outlined in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 provides a critical assessment, drawing together a number of critiques and commentaries, and bringing out the strengths and weaknesses of the Report. In Chapter 3 the response to the Report in a number of countries is outlined and compared with the response in New Zealand. Some of the broad-ranging implications of sustainable development are then discussed in Chapter 4. Finally, in Chapter 5, I have tried to draw together the main features of the sustainable development debate and some specific implications for New Zealand.
Open Access
Guidelines for monitoring additional dispute resolution processes within the Resource Management Act
(Lincoln University. Centre for Resource Management., 1992-05) Blackford, Carolyn
The purpose of this research has been to develop indicators that can be used by the Ministry for the Environment to monitor what are referred to as additional dispute resolution processes permitted under the Resource Management Act. Sections 99(1)1 and 268(1)2 provide a basis for resolving disputes over resource consents, designations and heritage orders, and water conservation orders using mediation, facilitation, conciliation or similar procedures. The research was not concerned with the option of arbitration as it is not based on consensus decision making. The differences between mediation, facilitation and conciliation were clarified. Much of the literature on additional dispute resolution relates to mediation rather than to facilitation and conciliation, therefore aspects of mediation are referred to more frequently in this publication. The steps in a mediation process are described in Appendix 1. The legislative context in which additional dispute resolution is specifically referred to was outlined. It identified where the use of these processes are allowed for in the resource consent granting and appeal process in particular and with regard to the review of consent conditions, designations and heritage orders, and water conservation orders. Monitoring principles were selected after a review of the overseas literature on environmental dispute resolution and an examination of existing dispute resolution models in other fields in New Zealand. These included the Christchurch Community Mediation Service, the Employment Tribunal, and the Disputes Tribunal (formerly the Small Claims Tribunal). The principles chosen were: efficiency and cost-effectiveness, legitimacy, and fairness. No attempt was made to express principles or develop indicators that might be appropriate for Maori to use in evaluating additional dispute resolution processes.
Open Access
Transport fuels in New Zealand after Maui: lignite on the back burner
(Lincoln College and University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1990-07) Wright, Janice; Baines, James
The greenhouse effect is perhaps the major global environmental issue we face at the end of the twentieth century. It is a peculiarly intractable problem for various reasons. Scientific opinion is divided so policy makers must learn to react to probabilities, not hard evidence. Further, the causes of the problem are not peripheral to lifestyle; the gases that threaten humankind are not propellants in hairspray cans, but byproducts of virtually all our economic activity. In common with many other countries, New Zealand has put some initial effort into developing a greenhouse policy. The Ministry for the Environment has established a Climate Change Programme consisting of working groups, produced discussion documents and commissioned various research projects. This publication is the outcome of one small research project. A greenhouse policy "with teeth" must include targets for emission of greenhouse gases. For instance, the Norwegian Government has set a target of 50% reduction in 1980 CO2 emission levels by 1993 (Bye et aI., 1989, p.32). Both in setting such ends and in devising the means by which to achieve these ends, it is essential to consider future likely sources of greenhouse gases as well to analyse present sources. Because of our concern that inadequate consideration of future production of greenhouse gases would jeopardise any greenhouse target, the authors recently completed, (with another researcher), a report drawing attention to the scale of potential CO2 emissions from thermal generation of electricity (Wright et aI., 1990). In this publication, we have taken one of the greenhouse problems out of the "too hard" basket, namely, CO2 emissions from transport fuels. Our intent is to highlight one largely ignored aspect of this in order to bring it into the climate change debate. After the oil shocks of the early 70s, a great deal of attention was focused on the transport sector. A large amount of research aimed at decreasing national dependence on imported oil was funded in a "wartime atmosphere". Towards the end of that time of intense research activity, one indigenous source of transport fuel, lignite, emerged as the preferred option. We begin this report with the hypothesis that lignite might well be the default response to another oil crisis; certainly there is a wealth of information on this option waiting to be used.
Open Access
Natural resource accounting - an overview from a New Zealand perspective with special reference to the Norwegian experience
(Lincoln University & University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management, 1990-09) Wright, Janice
Early in 1989, the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment commissioned a small research project in order to set directions for work on natural resource accounting in this country. Three recommendations were made in the resulting report, and it is presented in three major parts. Each part corresponds to one of the recommendations, although the order differs. Part A (Sections 1 through 10) comprises an international overview. This part of the report is somewhat similar to the initial scoping report with definition(s) of "natural resource accounting" followed by categorisation and descriptions of various methodologies. Some material is reproduced where relevant. However, the survey of methodologies in this report goes into more detail and an emphasis is put on applications. The Norwegian experience in environmental accounting is examined in Part B (Sections 11 through 14). The Norwegians have been working on natural resource accounts for 15 years and their experience goes well beyond the academic. As with the international overview, I have included a large number of actual resource accounts. In Part C (Sections 15 through 18), I have not been able to act fully on the first recommendation. To do so would require a commitment to a particular resource accounting approach and the establishment of a team to do the job. Thus the report reflects a kind of odyssey - a voyage of discovery - that begins with the broad picture of an international overview, moves to the detail of one particularly useful experience, and finishes by drawing together material and insights relevant to the New Zealand situation. In my earlier report, I discussed the confusion caused by the use of the two terms "natural resource accounting" and "environmental accounting". It seems to me that the latter is a more general term and, therefore, a better choice when considering the overall problem of tracing links between the economy and the environment. Terms like "environmental capital" can be used to refer to stocks of sources like fish or coal, and stocks of sinks like clean air. Environmental accountants try to record the depletion of both. However, in the Norwegian system that is the subject of the second part of this report, "natural resource accounting" is used as the "umbrella" term and so, to avoid confusion, I have continued to use "natural resource accounting" in this way.
Open Access
Water: towards a bicultural perspective
(Lincoln University & University of Canterbury. Centre for Resource Management., 1990-10) McCan, Cindy; McCan, David
The research presented here was commissioned by the Centre for Resource Management because a need was perceived for written material that might guide managers as well as users of resources about topics Maori. Legislative change in New Zealand as well as change in attitudes and actions of many Pakeha and Maori have raised our awareness that we have some unfinished history. The responsibility rests with all individuals to develop an awareness of Tikaka Maori and its relevance to New Zealand society in 1990 and beyond. The Centre for Resource Management has made a commitment to assist in that consciousness raising by providing policy advice and information, wherever possible, on issues raised by the Treaty of Waitangi - especially where those issues relate to natural resource ownership; Iwi and Crown institutional and operational arrangements, and Maori approaches to environmental management practices. The production of this publication is one step towards achieving that goal. According to Pakeha understanding, water is a chemical substance, a commodity to be sold or licensed, its flow is to be regulated and channelled according to computer models, it is an appropriate site for the release of a variety of wastes, water courses are responsible for purification processes, and judgements of water quality are based on 'acceptable' levels of pollution rendering 'purity' a relative term. Within this context, Maori views seem to be metaphysical or religious notions that are out of place and are not appropriate for consideration by 'scientists'. Recently, with the reference to the Treaty of Waitangi and to Maori spiritual and cultural values in legislation, the increased cognisance of the Treaty by the Courts and Tribunals, and renewed judicial recognition of Maori rights, it is now necessary for decision makers to understand Maoritaka as well as the new obligations of their position. It is the purpose of this publication to provide an introduction to these issues, especially as they relate to water resources. The first part of this publication outlines some principles of Maori worldview, social organisation, resource ownership and use to provide a basis for understanding Maori views and values. The second part of the publication focuses on Maori rights and values in a legislated and legal context. Some of the legislation and hearings where Maori water-related issues have been included or raised are discussed. Because it is hoped that this information will be of use, some consideration is also given to the ways in which resource managers can move towards including a Maori perspective in the operations of their departments or agencies.

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