David ParkerThe Environment Minister has joined the chorus of voices expressing a lack of confidence in the Otago Regional Council's ability to finish a major water project. Last week, the Otago Daily Times reported on findings from an independent review of the council's consent systems. A deemed permit was an original mining privilege that was deemed to be a water permit when the Resource Management Act became law in 1991Several interested parties were troubled by the findings, including Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan. After the information was made public, Environment Minister David Parker said he was concerned the council's processes would not enable the work to be completed in time. His expectation was a process should be implemented so minimum flows were set ahead of the deemed permit expiry date, but this was uncertain.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 16, 2019 16:30 UTC