Annual Report characterised by progress and engagement

The Annual Report 2024-25 highlights a year of strong community engagement, environmental achievements, and strategic partnerships, against a backdrop of national reform and change.

Environment Southland Chairman Nicol Horrell said the Council has remained focused on delivering its work programmes.

“This year has been one of regulatory change, nationally and regionally. Despite the challenges, we’ve stayed on track, working alongside our community and partners to make a difference.”

The Council achieved 22 of our 34 performance targets, one had no target for this year and for the 11 not achieved, often the majority of the criteria were met or the target was only narrowly missed.

Key highlights from the year include:

• Flood resilience projects: $3.6 million in Government co-funding supported upgrades to flood infrastructure. New fish-friendly pumps were installed to protect the Invercargill airport from inundation, and improvements to the Ōtautau section of the Aparima flood network were completed in May.
• Environmental innovation: The Murihiku Slow the Flow project, in partnership with Te Ao Mārama, explored nature-based solutions to flood risk and showed promising results.
• Community engagement: The Council connected with residents at summer events to gather feedback on the coastal plan review and the Regional Framework for Action on Climate.
• The decision to move to a regional rate based on capital value: This followed extensive consultation and will fund river management work, recognising that we all benefit from it.
• Improved access to data: The envdata.es.govt.nz website was upgraded to make environmental data more accessible to the public.
• Strong financial performance: The Council ended the year with a $3.9 million surplus as a result of higher-than-expected revenue from investments, government grants, and prosecution fines, additional income from marine fees (cruise ships) and local contributions. Overall, expenditure was under budget by $394k. The biggest contributor was employee expenses, which were under budget due to staff vacancies.

Chairman Horrell said engagement and relationships have been pivotal to making gains for Southland’s environment and resilience.

“Our partnership with Te Ao Mārama and the Charter of Understanding is central to our work. We also have a proven record of delivering flood protection upgrades, which is key to our relationship with the Government and our ability to secure funding.

“The Council has been able to confidently make informed decisions thanks to Southlanders willingness to work and engage with us on the things that are important to us all – whether at community events or through written submissions.”

Looking ahead, the Council is preparing for further legislative changes, discussions about local government reorganisation, a new Council followed by a new chief executive, and continuing to work with the community, our partners and others to sustainably manage Southland’s natural resources.

For more detailed information about the Council’s work programme and financial performance, please see the Annual Report 2024-255 and/or Annual Report Summary 2024-25 on our website, www.es.govt.nz