Request for supporting advice to Otago Regional Council meeting on land and water plan

Details of the request

On 12 September 2024, the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Agriculture met with the leadership of the Otago Regional Council to discuss the progress of that council’s draft land and water plan.

An extraordinary meeting of that Otago council was then held in Dunedin on Friday 20 September to discuss the contents of the above meeting, and a paper was prepared that outlined the nature of that discussion with the two ministers.

I am a member of that regional council and have reason to believe that the reporting of Otago staff - to the governance team - was not wholly accurate and may have been purposefully misleading.

Given the imminence of a final decision on the ORC’s draft land and water regional plan, I am urgently requesting the MfE’s briefing notes provided to Minister Simmonds prior to the above meeting at The Beehive, and any minutes/notes made by Ms Simmonds’ staff or ministry officials in connection with that meeting.

Released documents

• BRF-5263 Meeting Note - Minister Simmonds meeting with Otago Regional Council [PDF, 206 KB]
• Notes [PDF, 454 KB]
• Notes [PDF, 3.4 MB]