OPINION: This old mutt suggests the new government is going to have to move fast to rein in a number of district and regional councils around the country who seem hell-bent on trying to push through their own agendas.
A good example is the Otago Regional Council (ORC), which has been warned against ploughing ahead with a controversial water plan, despite recently meeting with Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop to discuss how the new government's plan to update national freshwater management policies would affect the council's under-development land and water plan.
When Bishop informed the ORC in December that their June deadline had changed, the ORC issued a statement the following day saying, no, it had not.
Bishop needs to let ORC know - quick-smart - who is in charge and that it's not them!