During 2008, Council identified 14 key strategic issues facing Hawke’s Bay and developed from these a set of draft strategic goals and objectives. The 14 strategic issues included Sustainability, Water Futures, Land Use Change, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Future Regional Infrastructure, Open Space, Economic Development, Regional Futures Scenarios, Regional Leadership, Partnerships with Māori, Investment, Operational Activities and Organisational Competency. We put these into a document called Embracing Futures Thinking and used this, along with stakeholder meetings, council workshops and a Speaker Series to profile and debate the region’s strategic issues in more depth, and to build momentum ahead of preparing this Ten Year Plan.
While dialogue continued through these opportunities during 2008, in July of that year Council prioritised six key areas for detailed attention in the Ten Year Plan. These are Water, Land, Climate Change, Regional Infrastructure, Investments and Regional Leadership.
Council’s decisions have long-term impacts so using foresight is important. Council has allocated resources to a detailed future scenario planning-based process which will look beyond our statutory timeframes.
The strategic framework for this Ten Year Plan is shown in Figure 1. It incorporates the foundation of Four Wellbeings , the Community Outcomes and three strategic themes based on Council’s Vision statement. Staff have also refreshed the organisational values. It will be important to integrate these values into the way the organisation operates if we are to meet the challenges of the future. Our introductory comments are mirrored in the key strategic themes, which we’ve called The Right Debate, in Part 2 of this Plan.
Regional Leadership
Regional leadership is about adding value to the region’s well being. Council strives to do this through engagement with central government, partnerships and collaboration with regional and local organisations and wise use of the Council’s resources.
With a change of central government, there is speculation over local government reform. The Auckland Local Governance review may result in changes that may in time influence change throughout other regions.
Council proposes to initiate dialogue on local government reform with its local government counterparts in Hawke’s Bay and with other stakeholders. It proposes to provide for a future study on greater local government efficiency in Year 2 of the plan, following developments in Auckland. The Resource Management Act reform may also be a factor in this study.
There are a number of current initiatives of regional collaboration. The Heretaunga Plains Urban Development Study is one example; joint funding of the region’s Economic Development Agency is another. Where possible, local government within the region should seek to share services where efficiencies can be gained.
In principle, the Council is of the view that the investment portfolio can and should be managed more actively over time. It should be aligned with key emerging sustainable development opportunities for the region but within a commercial framework that continues to emphasise financial performance, capital growth, dividend growth and risk management. Some revision of the current portfolio governance structure is proposed to enable a more detailed focus on investment strategy and investment management.
Maintaining a high performing organisation is also part of regional leadership. It is Council’s view that a high performing organisation is sensitive to community views and values, is able to adapt ahead of time to major economic, social and cultural shifts while continuing to deliver high quality services across its day-to-day operations within available resources.
Council’s ability to deliver its services to the community remains critically dependent on attracting and retaining the right staff and the right skills. In the current economic climate, this will be a challenge. Remuneration adjustments must take account of the wider context of the employment market, both private and public sectors.
The wider community is suffering from the effects of the economic recession and Council must play its part in easing that burden. In these times job security is of high importance and we acknowledge that our roles in local government are more secure than many.
Value for Money
The community is right to expect value for money for the services we provide. For these reasons, we want to more accurately define the value of a given service to those who benefit, directly or indirectly.
Where the benefit is clearly related to a specific section of the community, Council will use a cost-benefit analysis and specific charging regimes to cover the costs of the service. Targeted rates and specific charges are more transparent and equitable charging regimes for the overall community.
In the current economic recession, we anticipate a decline in Council’s investment income of up to 25% over the first two years of the Ten Year Plan period. Thereafter investment income is forecast to rise above current levels.
Council’s practical response through the early development of this plan has been to:
- Reduce operating costs across discretionary areas of the budget such as travel, training and consultancy;
- Direct some existing staff capacity into emerging strategic areas such as climate change and energy;
- Draw on cash operating reserves to fund important initiatives;
- Draw on reserve funds to underwrite the initiation of new strategic work in water strategy, but also to use a graduated transition arrangement moving to direct charging for work with clearly identified beneficiaries.
Partnerships with Māori and Other Strategic Partnerships
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council operates in a networked environment, meaning that it must work alongside other organisations such as the city and district councils, tangata whenua, industry, community groups and government departments. Through partnering, finding integrated solutions to regional issues and undertaking joint projects, Council and its partners will contribute to improving our region and community.
The Treaty of Waitangi gives Māori a special standing in the region and the Council’s partnership with Māori is more than a means to achieve strategic goals and community outcomes. They hold kaitiakitanga for the region and Council must effectively engage across a range of matters.
Over the next ten years, Council expects that there will be a number of significant Treaty of Waitangi Settlements relating to Ngati Kahungunu. These have the potential to positively transform the position of Māori within the region. This, coupled with the increasing proportional representation of Māori within our community, creates an imperative for Council to find new and constructive ways to work with tangata whenua.
Treaty Settlements are likely to involve economic and cultural redress involving natural resource management. Implementation of aspects of such settlement agreements are likely to fall to this Council. This will require a significant commitment of time from Council to work through the implementation details with the claimant groups.
Building Regional Infrastructure
Council has an emerging infrastructure planning role in terms of working constructively with city and district councils, servicing the Regional Transport Committee or active exploration of infrastructure opportunities to better manage the region’s water resources.
Regional infrastructure also includes social infrastructure such as museums and public open spaces. Council is encouraging the public to make use of the land that Council owns especially river berms and country parks. It is proposing a contribution to significant regional projects such as the Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery, the Regional Sports Park in Hastings and the Waipawa Town Hall project.
Linking the Two Cities
Hawke’s Bay is unique in having two medium-sized cities – Napier and Hastings – close to each other.
The Council’s role in infrastructure, transport planning and provision of public transport services is a critical element in building the synergies between these cities in areas of interconnectedness and efficiency. By national benchmarks Hastings and Napier are lightly serviced by public transport. Council seeks to increase provision of public transport in a financially sustainable way, believing that there are social, economic and environmental benefits. The Council will focus on customer service improvements, improving patronage and fare revenues in order to contain ratepayer costs.
Council is actively collaborating with Napier and Hastings on an urban growth study, aiming to provide clarity for urban and infrastructural development within the Heretaunga Plains. This study will be influential in aligning district plans with the Regional Policy Statement.
Living and Working in Hawke’s Bay
Hawke’s Bay is well-positioned within New Zealand from a lifestyle perspective, i.e. an economy built on natural resources with a warm, dry climate, good infrastructure, diverse open spaces and recreational opportunities. The overall economic standard of living in the region has improved over the past five years, underpinned by the prevailing good economic conditions. However, the proportion of the regional population on low incomes, whilst having fallen steadily over the last 10 years, is still significantly higher than the national average.
Council can contribute towards improving regional performance against national benchmarks by promoting sustainable development and encouraging national and international investments into Hawke’s Bay through its business unit Venture Hawke’s Bay , and through its investment portfolio.
Community Engagement
Council continues to actively engage with the general community and sectors of the community on a wide range of operational matters and at all levels of the organisation, governance and staff. The purpose could range from simply providing information, to providing a professional service or seeking more sustainable behaviour.
Consistent with the Embracing Futures Thinking process, Council is looking to improve its communication with the community by engaging with relevant sectors to understand their immediate issues, discuss and debate emerging issues and to advance collective responses to key initiatives.
Building a Resilient Economy
Hawke’s Bay is reliant on commodity-based, primary-producing, exporting industries for underlying wealth generation. In order to be resilient, businesses need to focus on ways to add value to their products and business processes. The international credit crisis is likely to limit the ability of Hawke’s Bay businesses to raise capital for business growth.
The Council’s business unit, Venture Hawke’s Bay, is taking a leadership role in informing decision makers about key drivers of business growth in the region. Venture Hawke’s Bay is available to help businesses build resilience, foster productivity and innovation and improve efficiencies. It has a recession plan with strategies aimed at dealing with the difficult economic conditions faced by the region’s businesses. It will play a significant role in identifying and helping regional businesses develop funding streams for business innovation and growth.
Venture Hawke’s Bay is governed by the main funding councils (Regional Council, Napier City Council and Hastings District Council) and has a number of independent members on its Board.
Responding to Climate Change
Based on the latest Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios, the implications for Hawke’s Bay are for the region to gradually get warmer and drier, but also potentially to suffer from more intense storm events.
This will impact on the region’s land and water resources and therefore on the primary industries in Hawke’s Bay. Some communities are already experiencing the effects of hazards such as coastal erosion and the risk of flooding from storms.
A large number of the initiatives contained in this Plan are in response to climate change. Sustainable land management is even more critical under the extreme weather events and we are focusing on integrating social, economic and environmental outcomes at a catchment level. Forestry is recognised as being able to make a significant contribution towards sustainable land uses and climate change mitigation.
Investigating water harvesting opportunities will provide options for dealing with drier summers while, at the same time, capturing the excess water from more intense rainfall events. We are also exploring investment opportunities for solar and wind energy generation. At a corporate level, we are setting emission reduction goals for Council’s activities and are looking at encouraging regional reduction initiatives.
The effects of climate change will impact directly on Council’s resource and hazard management responsibilities especially on the region’s water, rivers and coast. Council proposes to review current standards defined in the asset management plans and especially the risk threshold provided for within the flood protection schemes.
These activities will either assist the region to adapt to climate change as it occurs or mitigate its potential impact. Adaptation initiatives include:
- Strategic water programme;
- Sustainable land management programme, particularly the Regional Landcare Scheme;
- Water harvesting.
Mitigation initiatives include:
- Coastal hazard management;
- Flood control and drainage scheme reviews;
- Council’s corporate carbon emission reduction plan;
- Investment into forestry associated with Waipukurau and Waipawa sewerage treatment and the recently-purchased property near Tutira.
These programmes represent an investment of approximately $4.55 million in the 2009/10 year.
The Importance of Water
Irrespective of climate change, competition for the water resource is increasing from residential, industrial, recreational and, in particular, from agricultural users. The region’s primary sector-based economy means that water availability, use, conservation and value to different users is a major focus.
Council proposes to take an increasingly dynamic and multi-faceted approach to water management, in particular seeking to work simultaneously on:
- Improving scientific knowledge of the resource;
- Improving certainty within the planning and regulatory framework to assist national allocation of this scarce and precious resource;
- Improving standards relating to water quality;
- Enhancing management of water demand issues;
- Potentially investing in productive capital and infrastructure projects that manage these issues while providing economic, social and environmental returns to the Council and community.
All of these initiatives will lead to improved environmental outcomes.
Sustaining the Land’s Productivity
The Hawke’s Bay region is geologically diverse with young fragile soils that sustain the region’s primary sector. The land is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Council has for many years maintained a Regional Landcare Scheme targeted at improving sustainable land management practices. Council’s investment in this area provides an excellent opportunity to leverage additional resources from central government into sustainable land management in Hawke’s Bay.
Where possible, Council proposes to increase the level of scientific research undertaken by Crown Research Institutes in Hawke’s Bay on issues relevant to integrated land and water issues.
Integrated Solutions to Environmental Issues
Resource management issues associated with water, land and air arise from a complex mix of social, cultural, economic and environmental drivers. Multi-faceted solutions are required. Council is actively looking for solutions that meet desired outcomes across the four local government wellbeings.
The Tukituki Water Group is an example of community partnerships where different sectors work together to understand each other’s values and desires so that a comprehensive solution can be found.
Healthy Homes
The Council is looking at a comprehensive approach to achieving warm healthy homes while still seeking a review of the implementation date for the National Environmental Standard for Air Quality to 2020. Of note is that approximately 67% of Hawke’s Bay housing stock was built before 1978 and therefore pre-dated the introduction of requirements for insulation, subsequently adopted in the Building Code.
A number of agencies are pursuing the objectives of warm healthy homes for health benefits and an associated reduction in doctor’s visits, for energy efficiency and for air quality benefits.
Subject to feedback on the Council’s Proposed Air Quality Plan Change, the proposition to provide financial assistance for heating system upgrades and the leverage of central government grants for housing insulation, Council may act as a host organisation for co-ordinating its Healthy Homes joint initiative.
Use of Market Driven Economic Policies
Within a twenty year period environmental issues have become “mainstream” i.e. at least as important (and for some more important) than economic issues. The term “sustainability” is widely used. Council’s vision statement incorporates Sustainability principles. Of significance to Council’s role and its interaction with the regional community are two related trends where environmental issues are becoming intertwined with economic drivers:
- The emergence of environmental standards for exported products to various developed economies, and
- The use of economic instruments and trading schemes to price the cost of environmental effects.
The plans, regulations and standards developed through Council’s resource management plans are being used by industry as the baseline for their own environmental standards where these are required for product certification. At the very least, exporting industries dependent on and exposed to direct market access issues are sensitive to non-compliance with Regional Council rules. In time, this should drive improved environmental performance.
Economic and trading-based instruments, i.e. carbon pricing and nitrogen markets, are two factors which may in time transform economic activity. However, there is also considerable uncertainty as to whether or not consistent markets will form in these areas. Over time, Council will need to understand and possibly accommodate the use of such instruments into its own operating practices.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council and its predecessor organisations have played a key role in the development of this special region over many decades.
In constructing this Ten Year Plan, it is evident that the challenges now facing our community, and therefore the Council, are more complex and possibly more disruptive than have been experienced for decades – a global recession, global warming, land use intensification, natural resource competition and increasing risk of storm events.
However the need to focus on the long-term prosperity of our region is equally crucial. An economy and society that is vibrant, flexible and resilient has a much greater chance of being able to prosper within this changing world.
This means that Council’s ability to foresee changes that will impact on our region and to respond quickly will be tested repeatedly. A sense of urgency about our work agenda is critical, as is an ability to relate to and engage with our stakeholders in a meaningful way.
A recently conducted survey of Hawke’s Bay residents (2008) was benchmarked against surveys over the preceding ten years and indicated the community has a better knowledge of Council’s role and the value it provides. Another barometer of organisational health is internal staff surveys and these indicate that a very high proportion of staff believe the Council is a good place to work. While these measures are encouraging they need to keep improving.
Key messages we wish to reinforce in this proposed plan include:
- We need continual feedback from the community to help us learn;
- We are committed to delivering value to our ratepayers and community;
- We wish to work collaboratively with many organisations to get the best possible outcome for Hawke's Bay, and
- Our ability to continue to deliver and improve current services and develop new responses to challenges at the same time is critical to remaining relevant as an organisation.
We need to bring an integrated approach to our work and apply the range of skills we have (planning, engineering, economics, scientific, investment and financial) to the challenges ahead.
Alan Dick
Chairman
Andrew Newman
Chief Executive