Our environment is precious - let's keep it healthy!
Your Council has a series of strategies designed to ensure we make the best decisions to protect, enhance, manage and maintain our precious resources – our drinking water, surface water, open space and biodiversity – and take a sustainable approach to ensure we create a healthier environment for future generations.
While the Strategies’ goals and objectives remain relevant, the Council may need to revise how it seeks to achieve them in light of dealing with the impacts of the earthquakes.
These Strategies are: Water Supply Strategy (drinking water), Surface Water Strategy (springs, rivers, streams and stormwater), Open Space Strategy, Biodiversity Strategy, and Sustainability Policy. Each of these resource areas faces considerable issues around sustainability.
Climate smart
Being climate smart means that Christchurch is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and responding to the social, environmental and economic challenges and opportunities presented by climate change.
Water supply
Our clean, fresh drinking water makes Christchurch a great place to live. Our high quality water comes from aquifers beneath the city and requires no treatment to meet the Drinking Water Standards. With a growing population consuming more water, we will need to reduce the amount of water we use or find new sources, which may be of a lesser quality.
Surface water (springs, rivers, streams and stormwater)
The surface waterways and wetlands of Christchurch are a vital part of our natural environment. They shape our landscape, ecology and heritage, and are a taonga to pass onto future generations. We face key issues around how we manage and improve our surface waterways in the face of urban growth, intensive development and changes in land-use.
Open space
Open space is vital to our individual and community well-being. Our growing population is increasingly being accommodated in more intensive redevelopments, with apartments and townhouses having minimal open space, resulting in a growing demand for community open space. With intensified housing pushing up land prices, Council may not be able to acquire land in urban areas for parks and open space.
Biodiversity
Christchurch‘s biodiversity has recently been enhanced by the addition of Banks Peninsula, to the City. Banks Peninsula is home to a rich biodiversity that supports a multitude of indigenous species, many of national and international significance. We need to ensure that biodiversity survives, and include Banks Peninsula biodiversity in overall planning for the City.
Sustainability
A sustainability policy was adopted in March 2008 to ensure that sustainability becomes part of ‘the way we do things’ in all Council activities and is considered when decisions are made.
Community participation
A workshop held in August 2007 started the process of community engagement around all these strategies. A background issues discussion document was prepared and circulated prior to the workshop. After the workshop, a summary of key issues raised in discussion was also circulated.
Discussion document [PDF 630KB]
Personal perspectives
Your Council ran a series of focus groups in July 2007 to gain some understanding of the community's interests in and knowledge of our natural resources.
Watch the
video to see what some of our community think about sustainability, biodiversity, water supply, surface water and open space.
