So National’s appointed ECan (undermining democracy since 2010) has decided that leading business man Hugh Fletcher & Chief Justice Sian Elias shouldn’t be fined for their cows sh!ting in a lake.
Surprise, surprise.
It’s bad enough their maximum fine is $750 – hardly enough to make a large dairy farmer sweat – but for them not to bother applying it is pretty criminal.
Fish & Game says: “ECan’s rules clearly state that cattle should not be standing in lakes, and if it happens then there’s got to be consequences.”
But ECan can only go on about a lack of evidence of faecal matter in the water, just next to the lake.
Well it hardly sits in pats in the water, does it? But from the pictures, the amount of cattle standing there for the amount of time they’ll have been there… well if you look at a field of cows and get your average time shitting, statistics will tell you the rest…
ECAN was suspended in 2010 and replaced with appointed commissioners. It appeared an opportunity for a resource grab – the regional council manages valuable resources including water and soils, and National argued it allowed “better” decision-making around access to water for the valuable dairy industry.
In 2016 Canterbury will get a little bit of flawed democracy for their regional council. Christchurch will still have too limited a say.
And if this is what the Government’s appointments do to protect Canterbury’s water and environment… well the restoration of full democracy is still urgent.
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