A lot is happening at both a local and national level, with the restructuring of Auckland Local Government and RMA Reforms.

The Government has fast tracked the restructure of Auckland governance with the first of three Bills being introduced into Parliament under urgency. With no ability for public submissions and given it passed its second reading overnight, it is likely to become law in a matter of days. The second bill will also be introduced early May and the third later this year. For more information, click here: Reforms Picking Up Pace.

Phase 1 of the RMA reforms has also proceeded at record pace and is currently before the Select Committee, and is likely to become law in July this year. However, phase 2 of the reforms appears to have lost its momentum, with the Government suggesting it may require the rest of the Parliamentary term to be completed. For more information, click here: Changing Times.

At the same time, the Government is looking to invest significantly into New Zealand's infrastructure, particularly in the areas of transport, communications and energy. We look forward to the Budget, announced May 28. 

In the meantime, we at Andrew.Stewart continue to work on.

For the past two years, Andrew.Stewart Ltd has been working with Waiheke Island Resort to help minimise their environmental impact. As a result, the resort has been able to reduce the volume of water used on site and improve the quality of their treated wastewater. The effluent produced by the system is of such a high quality, that it is suitable for recycling and irrigating olives and lemons, which are about to be planted on site.

Steve and Sarah Shields, General Managers of Waiheke Island Resort, are very pleased with the water reduction and improvements in treated effluent. "We are thrilled with how the system is working for the resort and our guests.  The service provided by Andrew.Stewart Ltd has enabled us to move forward with ease in our aim for minimal environmental impact.  More companies, like ourselves, place an importance on environmental issues and we are delighted to be able to provide yet another service that shows our commitment."

To view the full article, click here.

Our contaminated land management team has been involved with a large due diligence investigation in Manila, Philippines, for a major FMCG corporation, as previously mentioned in our newsletter's November edition.  

After his first trip in October last year, Senior Environmental Consultant Ian Thompson returned to Manila in January for three weeks to complete the remediation project.

"The project quickly assumed the proportions of an archeological dig due to the presence of buried concrete building foundations in the middle of the spill area," Ian said. "These hampered excavation and removal of contaminated soil and waste, resulting in material in hard to reach places having to be excavated by hand."

Altogether, over 400 tonnes of soil, contaminated with toxic and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and oily residues was removed, and waste oil was pumped from the excavation area for later recovery.  

For more information on this project, click here.

(excerpt from Piha Beach - Village Voice article)

$85,179.99 is what it cost WCC to defend their granting of a resource consent for a Cafe in Piha in the Environment Court. 

WCC have applied for costs against Protect Piha Heritage noting among other matters:

• Protect Piha Heritage's case did not relate to general environmental issues or specific effects generated by a Cafe but rather a 'general opposition for an activity not supported by the Society'.
• The case did not raise matters of public interest or policy issues of general interest to resource management practise.
• PPH used the same arguments in the Environment Court that were unsuccessful with the Council Commissioners in the initial resource consent hearing.

WCC has applied for 35-50% of their costs,  as these "should not be borne by ratepayers".   Preserve Piha Limited has applied for 70% of their costs being $87,630.67.   

Remember: It's not over till all the bills are paid! Click here for the rest of the article.

We've continued the good progress on reducing our electricity use as part of Carbon Group's groundbreaking LowZone initiative (see November's newsletter for more information).

Through making some simple adjustments we feel the results have been astounding: in the first 4 months of this year, we have used 34% less electricity compared with the same period last year. The saving (about 1.5 tonnes of CO2) is like taking a car off the road for the same period, and the financial saving is over $1300.

With our drive for continual improvement, and so that our office becomes a 'model' for the Low Zone, we're looking at ways to keep 'crunching that carbon'.

You can find the tips here.

Our next volunteer planting day is occuring on Saturday 23 May from 9:30 am - 1 pm at Whenua Rangatira (Bastion Point). Ngati Whatua are known for their good lunches which are put on in appreciation of the volunteers, so we look forward to seeing you there. For more information, please visit our volunteer programme page.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. We hope you have found it both interesting and informative.

If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see in future, or if you would like to contribute, please feel free to contact us.