Agenda of Great Barrier Environment Committee

I hereby give notice that an ordinary meeting of the Great Barrier Environment Committee will be held on:

Date:

Time:

Meeting Room:

Venue:

Wednesday, 22 June 2016

10.00am

Claris Conference Centre
19 Whangaparapara Road
Claris
Great Barrier Island

Great Barrier Environment Committee

OPEN AGENDA

MEMBERSHIP

Chairperson	Susan Daly
Deputy Chairperson	Jeff Cleave
Members	Izzy Fordham
	Judy Gilbert
	Christina Spence

(Quorum 3 members)

Guia Nonoy

Democracy/Engagement Advisor

14 June 2016

Contact Telephone: (09) 301 0101

Email: guia.nonoy@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Website: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Great Barrier Environment Committee

22 June 2016

ITEM TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

1 Welcome 5

2 Apologies 5

3 Declaration of Interest 5

4 Confirmation of Minutes 5

5 Leave of Absence 5

6 Acknowledgements 5

7 Petitions 5

8 Deputations 5

9 Public Forum 5

10 Extraordinary Business 5

11 Notices of Motion 6

12 Freshwater monitoring programme: Tryphena Harbour streams 7

13 Infrastructure and Environmental Services Update Report 33

14 Correspondence 45

15 Consideration of Extraordinary Items

1 Welcome

Chairperson SP Daly will welcome everyone in attendance. Deputy JC Cleave will lead a karakia.

2 Apologies

At the close of the agenda no apologies had been received.

3 Declaration of Interest

Members are reminded of the need to be vigilant to stand aside from decision making when a conflict arises between their role as a member and any private or other external interest they might have.

4 Confirmation of Minutes

That the Great Barrier Environment Committee:

a) confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting, held on Wednesday, 27 April 2016, as a true and correct record.

5 Leave of Absence

At the close of the agenda no requests for leave of absence had been received.

6 Acknowledgements

At the close of the agenda no requests for acknowledgements had been received.

7 Petitions

At the close of the agenda no requests to present petitions had been received.

8 Deputations

Standing Order 3.20 provides for deputations. Those applying for deputations are required to give seven working days notice of subject matter and applications are approved by the Chairperson of the Great Barrier Environment Committee. This means that details relating to deputations can be included in the published agenda. Total speaking time per deputation is ten minutes or as resolved by the meeting.

At the close of the agenda no requests for deputations had been received.

9 Public Forum

A period of time (approximately 30 minutes) is set aside for members of the public to address the meeting on matters within its delegated authority. A maximum of 3 minutes per item is allowed, following which there may be questions from members.

At the close of the agenda no requests for public forum had been received.

10 Extraordinary Business

Section 46A(7) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended) states:

“An item that is not on the agenda for a meeting may be dealt with at that meeting if-

(a) The local authority by resolution so decides; and

(b) The presiding member explains at the meeting, at a time when it is open to the public,-

(i) The reason why the item is not on the agenda; and

(ii) The reason why the discussion of the item cannot be delayed until a subsequent meeting.”

Section 46A(7A) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended) states:

“Where an item is not on the agenda for a meeting,-

(a) That item may be discussed at that meeting if-

(i) That item is a minor matter relating to the general business of the local authority; and

(ii) the presiding member explains at the beginning of the meeting, at a time when it is open to the public, that the item will be discussed at the meeting; but

(b) no resolution, decision or recommendation may be made in respect of that item except to refer that item to a subsequent meeting of the local authority for further discussion.”

11 Notices of Motion

At the close of the agenda no requests for notices of motion had been received.

Great Barrier Environment Committee

22 June 2016

Freshwater monitoring programme: Tryphena Harbour streams

File No.: CP2016/10339

Purpose

1. To note the findings of the year-long water quality monitoring programme undertaken in Tryphena.

Executive summary

2. The Great Barrier Environment Committee (the committee) funded a monitoring programme at Tryphena to collect better information on water quality in four freshwater streams (two sites in each stream), and at two locations in the marine environment. Establishing a freshwater monitoring programme for Great Barrier is a key initiative in the Great Barrier Local Board Plan.

3. A year-long water quality monitoring programme was designed and initiated in April 2015. Water quality information was collected on a monthly basis from a number of streams flowing into the Tryphena Harbour, and two saline sites in the Tryphena Harbour itself. The purpose was to analyse the various parameters and determine whether there are any consistent water quality issues, and if so, recommend future targeted investigations or action, where required. The key findings are as follows:

· There is no issue with nutrients in the Tryphena streams, with the possible exception of the Puriri Bay stream which has elevated dissolved reactive phosphorus compared to other sites in Tryphena and the wider Auckland region. This could be a natural phenomenon, or there could be a source of phosphorus (e.g. the longdrop) nearby.

· All the Tryphena Streams are well oxygenated, as shown by the high concentrations and percent saturation of dissolved oxygen.

· In all streams except the Puriri Bay stream, there are E.coli levels that are elevated above what are called reference or “pristine” levels. We expect to see this in areas of human settlement or where land is used for agriculture/horticulture.

· There are relatively persistent exceedances of “alert” and “action” guidelines in the Blackwells stream and in the Mulberry Grove Stream.

· Generally E.coli levels are higher at the downstream sites than the upstream sites (but not always) thus indicating there are commonly E.coli sources between the two sites at the time of sampling.

· In the context of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, the annual median E.coli results do not exceed the national bottom line for primary and secondary recreation.

4. This report recommends the board notes the findings of 12 months of monitoring. The future of the freshwater monitoring programme on Great Barrier will be considered as part of the development of the board’s 2016/2017 environment work programme. .

Recommendations

That the Great Barrier Environment Committee:

a) notes the findings of the year-long monitoring of freshwater quality at eight sites in the Tryphena catchment.

Attachments

No.	Title	Page
a View	Memo - Report back on monitoring programme at Tryphena	9

Signatories

Authors	Laura Buckthought – Scientist (RIMU)
Authorisers	John Nash - Senior Local Board Advisor

Great Barrier Environment Committee

22 June 2016

Infrastructure and Environmental Services Update Report

File No.: CP2016/11443

Purpose

1. To provide an update on delivery of the Great Barrier local environment work programme from April to end of May 2016.

Executive Summary

2. This report is a regular update to inform and update the Great Barrier Environment Committee on the Great Barrier 2016/2017 local environment work programme.

Recommendations

That the Great Barrier Environment Committee:

a) note the information in the Infrastructure and Environmental Services update report.

Discussion

3. The Committee agreed its environment work programme at its June and August 2015 meetings. The work programme is supported by budgets for pest coordinator, biosecurity initiatives, environmental enhancement, pest management, and water quality monitoring.

4. The work programme is made up of the following projects;

· Management of leptinella population at Awana;

· Water quality monitoring at Tryphena;

· Community Pest Coordinator;

· Online Sustainability Hub;

· Support for fish passage enhancement;

· Weed survey;

· Weed management and rodent monitoring at Kaitoke;

· Rabbit control; and

· Plague Skink and Argentine Ant monitoring.

5. The board also agreed to fund a trial of the Good Nature traps from its discretionary capex budget.

6. An update on the local environment work programme is appended as Attachment A, with highlights noted in Table 1 below.

Project

Update

West coast bays weed survey

· This project is to undertake a survey of Great Barrier’s west coast bays from Port Fitzroy to Schooner Bay for the presence or absence of weed species.

· As part of this project, a large moth plant site was discovered at Fitzroy. As moth plant is listed as a control pest (removal) in the Regional Pest Management Strategy, priority was given to the removal of over 2000 pods, and cut and paste treatment applied to 100 moth plant vines.

· As many juvenile and seedling plants remain, this site will need ongoing treatment if control is to be successful. Lantana also present at this site has been removed

Tryphena Water Quality Monitoring

· Monthly monitoring of several sites in the Tryphena catchment is undertaken to address community perceptions of poor water quality in local streams.

· A memo summarising the 12 months of monitoring up to April 2016 is subject to a separate report on this agenda, and will inform the development of the board’s 2016/2017 local environment work programme.

Table 1: Highlights – Local Environment Work Programme

7. The April and May biosecurity update is appended as attachment B for the committee’s information.

Consideration

Local Board Views

8. This report and attachments specifically detail the activities delivered by the three units of I&ES (Stormwater, Waste Solutions and Environmental Services) within the local board area which support and contribute to the Great Barrier Local Board outcome – The environment is at its best here.

9. The committee has full delegation to consider matters relating to biodiversity and biosecurity, water quality, and waste management. Therefore, it is the appropriate forum for reporting of activities delivered by the I&ES department.

Maori Impact Statement

10. While this report is for information only and does not require any decision making, it is recognised that environmental management, water quality and land management has integral links with the mauri of the environments and concepts of kaitiakitanga.

General

Implementation Issues

11. There are no implementation issues arising from this report.

Attachments

No.	Title	Page
a View	Infrastructure and Environmental Services update report	37
b View	Biosecurity update	41
c View	Biosecurity awareness of ferry passengers travelling to Great Barrier Island, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand: An interim report for Auckland Council Infrastructure and Environmental Services(Biosecurity) and the Great Barrier Local Board	43

Signatories

Authors

Emma Joyce – Relationship Advisor

Jeremy Warden – Biosecurity Advisor (Great Barrier)

Authorisers

Gael Ogilvie – General Manager Environmental Services

Barry Potter - Director Infrastructure and Environmental Services

John Nash - Senior Local Board Advisor

Great Barrier Environment Committee

22 June 2016

Correspondence

File No.: CP2016/10288

Executive Summary

Correspondence sent and received for the Great Barrier Environment Committee’s information.

Recommendation/s

That the Great Barrier Environment Committee:

a) note the correspondence for the months of April, May and June 2016.

Attachments

No.	Title	Page
a View	14 April 2016 - Letter from Peter Blackwell - regarding Our Fish	47
b View	7 June 2016 - Seachange newsletter	51
c View	10 June 2016 - Windy Hill - Natural Heritage Fund accountability	57

Signatories

Authors
Authorisers