Annual Report
The 2022-23 Annual Report sets out what we did in the past year, and reports on our progress against the key goals set in our current Long-term Plan.
This report reviews our achievements in 2022/23, and compares them with our aims set out in our Long-term Plan.
The 2022-23 year brought new challenges for our community with the transition from the pandemic years, to an increased focus on the rising costs of living and changing legislative environment.
In line with what was agreed with our community in the Long-term Plan 2021-2031, Environment Southland continued to advance the region’s climate resilience projects, programmes to improve freshwater quality and undertake a range of biodiversity and biosecurity initiatives.
We have continued our journey towards treaty partnership and bringing a Te Ao Māori lens to the way we work. This is supported by our partnership work with Te Ao Mārama Inc (the environmental arm of Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku) on a number of key work programmes.
It has also been a year of ongoing change with a range of Government reforms in play and new regulations being introduced. Alongside this, we had a local government election in October and welcomed five new faces around the table. We’d like to acknowledge the contribution of the departing councillors and thank the new councillors for quickly coming to grips with the work needed to respond to the challenges facing the region.
Nationally and internationally, this year has shown the critical importance of community resilience to a changing climate. Locally, the flood protection projects to improve community resilience progressed at pace. The replacement of the Stead Street Pump Station, including the provision of fish-friendly Archimedes screw pumps, is well advanced. The station will provide Waihōpai Invercargill, including Invercargill Airport, with protection from inundation for the next 50 years.
The existing pumps were at the end of their life and the new ones will provide critical protection to the 116 properties in the immediate area and a lifeline for the airport, which supports 320,000 passengers plus freight each year.
A further four flood protection projects were advanced, covering vital upgrades to stopbanks and associated infrastructure in the Gore, Wyndham, Mataura and Waihōpai Invercargill communities.
The climate resilience projects are partly funded by Kānoa – the Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit – to the tune of almost $13.9 million. The funding was part of Government’s economic recovery initiative to lift regional employment and provide a much-needed boost for the local economy.
The impacts of our changing climate need to be understood and tackled together as a community. This is why the Regional Climate Change Working Group has been set up this year, with representatives from all four Southland councils and Te Ao Mārama Inc. The group will work with communities to understand the impacts of climate change in the region, and develop adaptation and mitigation plans.
Southlanders have told us that they want improved freshwater quality. We have been continuing to develop a robust scientific understanding of the level of change needed to meet our community’s aspirations for freshwater.
The Regional Forum’s report Achieving the Community’s Aspirations for Freshwater was received by Council in July last year. The recommendations from this report, alongside scientific, economic and cultural information, are informing an update to the proposed Southland Water and Land Plan, known as Plan Change Tuatahi (the first plan change). There will be opportunities for community input to help shape this plan change as it is developed.
New regulations for intensive winter grazing also came into effect in May 2023, ahead of the 2023 winter grazing season. We know Southland landowners have undertaken a lot of work and planning to improve intensive winter grazing practices in the region over a number of years. We will continue to support farmers to ensure their winter grazing activities comply with the rules.
The region’s biosecurity and biodiversity programmes continued at pace during the year. The Fiordland Buffer Zone project was completed this year, working to protect the Fiordland National Park from the invasive weeds cotoneaster and Darwin’s barberry. The project took more than 100,000 invasive plant seeds out of circulation. The project was run by Environment Southland and funded by the Department of Conservation through the Jobs for Nature – Mahi mō te Taiao programme.
The Undaria project dive team, also funded by Jobs for Nature this year, removed 46.5 tonnes of the aquatic pest plant and will now continue for another year, thanks to the return of cruise ships and funding from the marine fee.
Environment Southland had budgeted for a $2.4 million operating deficit in the 2022-23 financial year, however, several factors helped turn things around and the Council finished the year with a positive result. This meant we did not add to debt and are able to start to rebuild reserves depleted during the pandemic and enable us to manage future infrastructure replacement and disaster repairs. A significant amount of the unbudgeted income related to the return of cruise ships, which contributed $2.1 million in marine fees.
We entered the 2023-24 year from a situation where we absorbed higher costs than in 2022-23, having held the rates at a 5% increase despite higher inflation. As this is not sustainable year-on-year, in May the Council set the rates at an average 6.9% increase for the 2023-24 year, in line with inflation. Given the cost of living challenges faced by the community, the Council reprioritised work and found efficiencies within the organisation in order to keep the rates increase as low as possible.
This report was approved and adopted by a meeting of the Council on 18 October 2023.
Message from Environment Southland Chairman Nicol Horrell and Chief Executive Wilma Falconer