canterbury Archive

  • Russel Norman

    Canterbury water management in no-mans-land - by Russel Norman



    I recently was the guest speaker at the Annual General Meeting of the Water Rights Trust (WRT) in Christchurch, where outgoing Chairman Murray Rodgers gave an impassioned speech about the poor state of water resources and water governance in Canterbury. Murray remains as a trustee of the WRT and is also a member of the [...] read more
    August 29, 2011 3:55 pm - 18 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Trustpower and the Govt plan to mine this national park – Rakaia River - by Russel Norman



    Last Saturday I went to pay my respects to one of the grand old men who built the Canterbury Plains, the Rakaia River. The Rakaia River is the greatest of the remaining untamed braided rivers. Starting in the Southern Alps it reaches the ocean south of Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora. It is one of the rivers that [...] read more
    May 9, 2011 6:13 pm - 4 Comments
  • Kennedy Graham

    Day two in Hell - by Kennedy Graham



    Thursday night I convene a meeting of Green members in my house. Twelve turn up, one from the eastern suburbs. He is not sure if he can get back or, if not, where he will stay. He has student friends, so he is not worried. He is young, so he is not worried. We exchange [...] read more
    February 26, 2011 9:25 am - 1 Comment
  • frog

    Democracy in NZ: Lost, Stolen or just Mislaid? - by frog



    Last weekend Jeanette Fitzsimons delivered the inaugural Rod Donald Memorial lecture to a packed audience in Christchurch. Here are some highlights of the speech and you can read the whole thing here. Running through the history of democracy has been the issue of just who is a member of society? In ancient Athens women and [...] read more
    November 23, 2010 12:22 pm - 21 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    The social cost of industrial dairying - by Catherine Delahunty



    This weekend I attended the Te Wai Pounamu Green Women’s Hui at the Glenburn Youth Camp in the heart of new dairy country. On the way, we flew in over an altered plain with giant circles marking out the irrigation of the vast fields. Others drove and noticed massive irrigators pumping in every field despite [...] read more
    November 9, 2010 3:31 pm - 7 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    Domestic violence and the Canterbury earthquake - by Catherine Delahunty



    I was dismayed but not altogether surprised to read yesterday that police have reported a marked increase in domestic violence in Canterbury since Saturday’s earthquake. The trauma of the earthquake itself, followed by days of stress from damaged homes and businesses, fear from aftershocks, lack of sleep, and worry as the extent of the challenge [...] read more
    September 9, 2010 10:33 am - 17 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Large scale irrigation -> Intensive dairy -> water pollution - by Russel Norman



    Yesterday we heard from David Carter that central govt wants to subsidise large scale irrigation projects in Canterbury and elsewhere.  And Morning Report is running with the story of a mega- irrigation project right across Canterbury, details sketchy but ‘exciting’. The water would be used to spread intensive dairy across huge swathes of Canterbury. The proponents [...] read more
    August 5, 2010 9:20 am - 10 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Bazley comments on Canterbury water are a worry - by Russel Norman



    These reported comments by Margaret Bazley are a real worry: Canterbury has “plenty of water” and people worried about rapid changes in its regulation need to be educated, says Environment Canterbury (ECan) head commissioner Dame Margaret Bazley. There is not plenty of water, it seems that Bazley needs to be educated if these comments are accurate. [...] read more
    August 3, 2010 7:58 pm - 3 Comments
  • frog

    Does contaminated water make you sick to your stomach? - by frog



    As you know, I am a frog of many talents, and one of the things I like to do in my down time is read specialist medical journals about inflammatory bowel diseases. No really. See, I know a number of people with Crohn’s Disease – a debilitating condition causing chronic inflammation of the intestine – [...] read more
    June 10, 2010 11:00 am - 12 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Erosion of environmental representation at ECan - by Russel Norman



    And so it begins… Forest and Bird revealed yesterday that the first local committee set up under the new ECan structure to consider the future of the Hurunui and Waiau river catchments was unlikely to have any members representing environmental concerns. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but with the Government’s not-so-hidden agenda for [...] read more
    June 1, 2010 4:45 pm - 17 Comments
  • frog

    Podcast: Carter, conflicts, and Canterbury - by frog



    Cantabrians are fired up about legislation passed under urgency last month which sacked their regional councillors and circumvented the established process for Water Conservation Orders on Canterbury Rivers. Amidst the furore an interesting set of circumstances has come to light around Agriculture Minister David Carter. Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman revealed in Parliament that Carter [...] read more
    April 21, 2010 3:37 pm - 3 Comments
  • frog

    Rodney-mandering the super city - by frog



    Gerrymander is an ugly, ugly word. So I won’t use it. Instead I’ve made a beautiful table for you to look at. What it shows is the names and the degree of representation each of the 13 new wards (with 20 councillors between them) created by the Local Government Commission for the Auckland Super City elections will have. read more
    March 31, 2010 9:51 am - 2 Comments
  • Sue Kedgley

    Wake Up Cantabrians! Your democracy is at stake! - by Sue Kedgley



    I can’t believe the people of Canterbury are going to allow a democratically elected Council—Environment Canterbury—to be thrown out and replaced by an unelected and unaccountable political appointee—most likely Jenny Shipley. What is happening in Canterbury is eerily similar to what is happening in Auckland—layers of democracy are being quietly got rid of and replaced [...] read more
    March 19, 2010 11:31 am - 37 Comments
  • Metiria Turei

    Education investment is necessary for recession management - by Metiria Turei



    The Tertiary Education Union reports today that Canterbury University is looking at further restricting student numbers because they are not being funded by central government for the expected growth. Notwithstanding that many universities, including Canterbury, spend a great deal on advertising that could be better spent on education, the issue is a serious one – [...] read more
    April 2, 2009 4:32 pm - 52 Comments
  • frog

    Is business the only stakeholder that matters? - by frog



    Agriculture Minister David Carter has admitted that he intentionally left environmentalists, the water rights trust and recreational users off the invite list of a major water users meeting in Canterbury. In the same breath he promised that their concerns would not be ignored. George Orwell and his Ministry of Truth would be proud. Purposefully keeping [...] read more
    December 22, 2008 11:54 am - 65 Comments
  • frog

    Selwyn-Waimakariri sucked dry - by frog



    Astonishingly a resource consent panel has just granted 41 new consents to take ground-water for irrigation from the Selwyn-Waimakariri river zone. This decision was made against the recommendations of the Canterbury Regional Council. The Council has classified the Selwyn Waimakariri zone as a Red Zone meaning based on the rivers’ ability to refill themselves that [...] read more
    October 21, 2008 1:43 pm - 6 Comments
  • frog

    Free publicity for Green candidates at Kiwiblog - by frog



    It’s nice to see over at Kiwiblog that David Farrar is continuing to profile up and coming Green candidates, Kevin Hague, Craig Carson, Mikaere Curtis and Virginia Horrocks. I’m looking forward to seeing what other gestures of cross party cooperation he is going to share with his reading public. Luckily he has promised another post [...] read more
    April 18, 2008 8:37 am - 7 Comments
  • frog

    So you think climate change won’t affect you? - by frog



    Then it’s probably time you read the Herald’s story Climate change could see pubs run dry – Niwa.  First up a pessimistic quote from one of those pesky, killjoy scientists, who probably drinks wine anyway: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger said climate change could see a decline [...] read more
    April 9, 2008 4:26 pm - 10 Comments
  • frog

    Replacing Canterbury rivers with cows - by frog



    While the Waipawa River in the Hawke’s Bay quickly disappears because of being over irrigated, it seems Canterbury is exploring ways of irrigating more rivers: Central Plains Water Trust has applied for a number of resource consents relating to the construction and operation of a large scale irrigation scheme. The applicants propose irrigating 60,000 hectares [...] read more
    February 26, 2008 8:59 am - 17 Comments
  • frog

    Race weekend - by frog



    There are three interesting races this weekend. The Coast to Coast leaves Kumara this morning with reports that drought conditions on the Waimakariri river* are such that there is no chance of any records being broken. Presumably kayaks don’t go too fast when they are dragging along the bottom of a river bed. Race organisers [...] read more
    February 8, 2008 8:42 am - 17 Comments
  • frog

    Christchurch plans for peak oil and climate change - by frog



    While Michael Cullen and the central government dither on the possibility of peak oil, Environment Canterbury is taking it very seriously and making provisions for it in all future planning: “Our ever increasing dependence on energy coincides at a time when New Zealand (and Canterbury) is facing significant future uncertainty in the area of availability [...] read more
    November 20, 2007 3:39 pm - 7 Comments