The Hurunui Waiau Zone Implementation Programme as a collaborative planning process: A preliminary review

Abstract

The objective of this report is to provide a preliminary assessment of the development of the Hurunui Waiau Zone Implementation Programme as a collaborative planning exercise to progress the implementation of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) in the Hurunui Waiau catchments. This report builds on an earlier study (Lomax, Memon and Painter, 2010) on the development of the CWMS as an innovative collaborative regional strategy to address exacerbating conflicts over the allocation and management of freshwater resources in the Canterbury region in New Zealand. Past attempts to satisfactorily address these concerns within the framework of the Resource Management Act 1991 statutory planning regime have encountered significant barriers. The formulation and implementation of the CWMS is expected to overcome these barriers by having adopted a collaborative governance model. This report reflects upon and presents observations of the Hurunui Waiau Zone Implementation Programme process. As such, it flags for the Canterbury Regional Council a number of issues which have emerged from this valuable learning experience and concludes with a number of questions drawn from our observations for consideration by the CRC with zone committees and other stakeholder groups and recommendations for research.