Sustainability and LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Forest and Bird, Volume 21, Issue 1, 1 February 1990, Page 26

Sustainability and LOCAL GOVERNMENT

by

Alan Hallett

MAGINE A COMPANY which spends more than ICI each year, which employs more people than Postbank and whose assets are greater than Air New Zealand's — then consider the effect that a company like that would have on the economy of a single region. Imagine the influence that this company could have in promoting sustainability, if it chose to do so, just on these economic grounds. Now add to this economic weight the statutory powers of a local or regional government ... The ‘company’ we have been talking about is the Wellington City Council, which by itself and through its ‘subsidiaries’ spends about $330 million per year, employs 3,000 people and owns assets worth $1.5 billion. If it was a company, these figures would put it as one of the top 50 in New Zealand. Admittedly it is one of the country’s largest councils but nevertheless this demonstrates the role that all councils can play in working towards sustainability. The 86 local authorities created by

the recent local government reorganisation will all have considerable economic and statutory powers and they could, if they wish, have a considerable effect. The last few years have also seen their statutory powers being significantly strengthened. The present government believes very strongly that regional and local authorities should play a larger role than before and they have been given or are about to be given, several major new powers and reponsibilities as a result. The most important of these as far as sustainability is concerned is the reform of the resource management laws.

Large Role for Councils

The upshot of this will be a new law by the middle of the year which gives regional and local councils a dominant role in the management of resources. Regional councils will be responsible for management of water, soil and geothermal resources, natural hazards, pollution control and the control of haz-

ardous substances and will be concerned with coastal management. Local councils, meanwhile, will continue with land use management through the District Scheme (or whatever replaces it), noise control and hazards mitigation and they will also be responsible for hazardous substances and air pollution control at a local level, where this is appropriate. On this basis, councils are certainly going to have a large role to play. Since one of the key issues for sustainability is the question of resources and the way in which they are used, we could expect that the new law will address it — and so it proves. Sustainability is the basic and overriding principle, but the problem is that it is likely that it will remain as just that — a principle — unless local authorities accept the responsibility to put it into effect... and most councils are under great pressures which don't allow them to. The demands on them to promote economic growth and resource exploitation within their areas are enormous. Competition with other regions for investment employment opportunities and so on puts great pressure on them and most of them therefore feel that the first council to start down the sustainable path will therefore be at a severe disadvantage compared with the rest — so they don’t. Furthermore, the people who tend to get onto councils also tend to be the people who are least likely to promote sustainability and who think nothing wrong of resource exploitation. Fortunately the recent local body elections have seen a scattering of new councillors elected who could help steer councils into new directions. In these circumstances, it is highly probable that councils will not adopt sustainability issues seriously — and if they don't, central government will do very little to correct them. From what we know about RMLR at the moment, there will be no requirement for councils to be judged on their performance nor will there be adequate mechanisms to ensure that councils do address sustainability. In the absence of these, what will be important, as always, is the political will of the people on the councils. If it isn’t there — and it seems that it might not be — our efforts to achieve sustainability are going to be hampered.

Responsibility for Transport

Apart from RMLR, local authorities will have several other new responsibilities, in particular for regional transport. The effects of the way we use our transport are now becoming more and more well known — the transport sector uses about 30 percent of the total fuels burnt every year just to move around. If you add to this the fuels required to provide all the support services, like constructing and maintaining roads, building vehicles and making the materials they are built from, this figure rises to over 50 percent. Not only does this represent a serious drain on the fossil fuel resources we have, it also contributes over half the carbon dioxide produced every year to the greenhouse effect and global warming. The obvious way to do something about both these problems is to promote a system in which people use their cars less, public transport more and don't travel so far — and this is where regional and local governments come in. A new transport law has just come into operation in New Zealand which will have a profound effect on transport issues. Regional governments have again been given a large part to play and they will now control the provision of all transport facilities within a region from roads to public transport. Here again, there is a good opportunity to encourage sustainability by promoting a better public transport system instead of more facilities for private motorists. In particular, the Regional Passenger Transport Committee, an offshoot of the regional council, will have the responsibility for deciding which public transport routes there

should be, their timetables and the fare structure which will operate within the region. The question is going to be whether these committees accept the challenge of designing a public transport system that genuinely attempts to provide services that people can use as an alternative — or whether they merely bow to the existing ethos and carry on providing for cars. In addition to their role in the planning of public transport within their region, councils will also be responsible for deciding which companies operate services. All public transport operators will have to compete for the right to operate on a route and it will be the regional council's job to decide which operators get which routes. If they chose to, there would be nothing stopping them from preferring companies which show a concern for sustainability. Again we come down to the question of political will! However, even if a better public transport system is created, new routes and timetables that encourage people to use them don’t

automatically mean that people will use them. And there is still the problem of encouraging people to reduce the length and frequency of their car trips. One answer to these questions lies in planning and the District Scheme — and how local councils plan their planning.

Mixed Land Use Planning

The way that we plan our land can have a considerable impact on transport requirements. One of the keys lies in what is called mixed land-use planning. By zoning to ensure residential, shopping, employment and recreational facilities are within easy reach of each other, peoples’ main needs can be satisfied within the area in which they live. They won't therefore have quite the same reasons to make long journeys as before. Planning can also be used in other ways to promote a more sustainable use of transport. Many people don't use public transport because there isn’t anything within a reasonable distance so the thing to do is plan areas

of high population density along public transport routes so more people are able to use them. Incentives could also be given to new industrial developments to ensure that they are near bus or train routes, or that they provide their own transport to them. And there are many other things that could be done to encourage the use of public services. As operators of transport services too, local councils also have a role in ensuring that they are provided sustainably. Bus fleets powered by electricity have a far smaller effect than, say, diesel buses. CNG is another better fuel — some councils have recently been converting their bus fleets to run on it. The Auckland Regional Council, for example, has done this at a cost of about $8,000 per bus and expects both to make a profit as well as to run them more cleanly. The technology for using hydrogen made from water as a fuel is also available. Local councils also have a significant role to play in recycling schemes. New Zealanders produce, on average, about two-thirds of a tonne of waste per year, which is then just taken away to the tip and buried — a huge waste of resources when a considerable part of it can be recycled. Glass, paper, plastic, aluminium and ferrous metals can all be recycled, if not actually used again without reprocessing, and all organic waste can be composted. Estimates of the proportion that can be reclaimed vary but more than 50 percent is probably achievable for domestic refuse and something less than this for industrial waste. This represents a very worthwhile resource which can be created without further use of raw materials. Local councils, of course, as the bodies responsible for waste collection and operation of landfill sites themselves, can do a great deal towards the encouragement of better recycling. Very few councils in New Zealand have accepted this responsibility and, in those that have, the schemes they chose to operate have generally failed — either through a lack of commitment or a lack of planning. However, failure is not inevitable. A number of councils in Australia are operating successful long-running schemes and are even making a profit in the process. A linked issue is the methane formed in landfill sites and sewage farms by breakdown of the organic matter dumped in them. Methane is one of the most active greenhouse gases with an effect some 30 to 40 times that of carbon dioxide, and volumes are produced every day from these sites. Some councils, in fact, have a serious problem from the sheer amount of gas that is produced, so much that there is a real danger of explosions. In the interests of safety as well as sustainability, the gas needs to be trapped. Methane can also be burnt as a fuel — it is actually the main constituent of CNG — and we can therefore produce both energy and convert it to carbon dioxide at the same time. Although the carbon dioxide is still a greenhouse gas, it is not nearly so effective and so the demands of sustainability are satisfied on two counts. By using it as a fuel, we are able to avoid using up other, non-renewable, energy resources and also have less effect on global warming. Several local councils in New Zealand, Christchurch for example, are already using landfill methane to power heating boilers,

council vehicles and so on. Others are looking at doing so, such as Wellington with their new sewage plant, but many more could be and should be. The technology is very simple — where gas bubbles off at sewage plants and landfill sites, bores are sunk into the ground. All that is then necessary is some sort of collection and storage system and that’s it — the gas can be used as and where it is needed, providing a good cost-saving as well as a resource. This article has touched on just a few of the areas in which local and regional councils can have an impact on sustainability — there are of course many more, probably as many as there are areas in which they operate. Energy management and the promotion of energy efficiency, land restoration, recycling and waste reduction, and a number of others are all issues that councils can have an effect on. And let's not forget their economic power and the way they can use it to encourage local industry and others to adopt sustainability — perhaps by setting an example themselves!

Aesthetic Values

There is one area, though, that is not often considered and it has to do with the attractiveness of the cities that many of us live in. Aesthetic values are obviously less important than issues that affect the state of the earth and whether we can live on it at all. However, our personal environment is an important one if we are to stay living in cities and the centres of most of them are fast becoming deserts as far as people are concerned. A visit to the central business districts of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch shows how little they have been treated as places for people by developers. The Terrace in Wellington, for example, has become a sunless canyon with high-rise buildings down its entire length with very little to commend it all all. The beauty and history of buildings such as His Majesty's in Auckland have been lost — and it’s still happening. Plans have been published for a redevelopment on the site of the MLC Building in Wellington, a beautiful example of a style that will soon go forever — and so the list goes on. Some councils, of course, have recognised this and made sure that central city parks and open spaces have been kept; others have ensured that buildings are retained for their aesthetic values — Napier, for example, with its Art Deco buildings. Many others have done none of these things and we are the worse for it. Sustainability covers all our needs and the need to enjoy our surroundings is as profound as any other. Aesthetic values have a tremendous importance in our lives and if we are unable to love and feel content in our environment, we will have very little urge to do anything about the wider concerns around us.

Local and regional governments have, then, a significant power to promote sustainability — but the question is still whether they will. A quick look at the make-up of most councils, particularly regional ones, shows that they consist of mainly men, mainly older men with a history of successful business life — the "grey hair, grey suit" brigade as a friend of mine puts it — precisely the people least likely to respond to the needs of sustainability. And this is going to be a problem if we want seriously to start dealing with the problems of sustainability. Political will is the crucial question, no matter what current legislation dictates. Local authorities have to start showing this will — and we can all play a part in persuading them to do so. Start letting them know what you expect from them; phone and write letters to your councillors and ensure that they know where your vote goes; write submissions on issues that come up; and so on. (The new RMLR Act will probably help here as it is expected to make it easier for people to propose changes to the District Scheme). Eventually councillors will start to listen, even if it's only because their votes are being threatened, and then we can really start! #&