Council is commissioning an independent assurance review of its forestry consenting and compliance system.
Since 2018, Council has strengthened its forestry consenting, monitoring and enforcement capability and worked with the forestry sector to improve processes and standard consent conditions.
The review will independently test whether Council's current approach is fit for purpose, proportionate to our region's environmental risks and clear and workable in practice.
It will also identify what's working well and where improvements could be made.
Scope of the review
The independent panel will look at how Council’s forestry consenting and compliance system works in practice. This includes whether:
- requirements are proportionate to environmental risk
- consent conditions are clear and practical
- consenting and compliance processes are efficient and consistently applied
- unnecessary costs, delays or uncertainty can be reduced while maintaining strong environmental outcomes.
The review will consider a selection of consenting and compliance cases, consent conditions and operational examples.
Independent review panel
Hon Christopher Finlayson KC, Chair
The Hon. Christopher Finlayson KC is a barrister. He was admitted to the Bar in 1981 and was a partner in two firms between 1986 and 2002. After going to the Bar at the beginning of 2003, Mr Finlayson practised as a barrister until September 2005 when he entered Parliament as a National List MP, serving until January 2019.
Mr Finlayson was a Cabinet Minister between 2008 and 2017 holding a number of portfolios. He represented New Zealand in the International Court of Justice in 2013 when Australia challenged Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. Mr Finlayson also chaired the Privileges Committee of Parliament from 2011 to 2017.
After returning to the Bar, Mr Finlayson has practised in a number of areas and has written two books on his time in Parliament. First, He Kupu Taurangi which recounts his work as Minister for Treaty Waitangi Negotiations, and Yes, Minister, which is a Parliamentary sketch.
Dr Marie Doole
Marie is the Director of Mātaki Environmental, an advisory firm focused on research, strategy and regulation. Marie holds a Bachelor of Science, a Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management, Masters in Environmental Legal Studies (Hons) and a PhD from the University of Waikato.
Marie has a background in central and local government policy and enforcement, consulting and the NGO sector and is a qualified RMA Hearings Commissioner. Marie is one of the inaugural Distinguished Practitioner Fellows of the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators neTwork (AELERT) and an Adjunct Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington’s Te Kura Tātai Aro Whenua School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences.
Vanessa Eparaima
Vanessa is a business consultant, company director, and trustee who sits on a range of commercial, investment, and not-for-profit boards. She is chair of the tertiary education institution, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, the co-chair of the forestry land management company – CNI Iwi Land Management Ltd, tasked with managing the land under the Kaingaroa Forest Estate on behalf of eight iwi owners, and a trustee on the Tūaropaki Trust and chair of the Tūaropaki Power Company.
Vanessa was the inaugural chair of Raukawa Iwi Development, a high-performing iwi commercial company, and remains a director. She was the former executive chair and Treaty of Waitangi negotiator on behalf of the iwi of Raukawa and for the Raukawa Settlement Trust.
Vanessa is a passionate advocate for Māori, community, economic development, and health, social, and environmental issues. She has a strong history of working with the wider community, kaumātua, iwi chairs, Ministers, members of Parliament, and numerous stakeholders to achieve positive outcomes for those she serves.
Review timeframe
The independent panel will undertake the review and provide Council with its findings and recommendations. An initial findings report is expected within six weeks of the panel's formal appointment.
We'll update this page as the review progresses.