4. Land Drainage rating changes and Ecological Enhancement targeted rate

Ecological Enhancement targeted rate protecting and enhancing biodiversity across Selwyn is one of the ways the Council supports the district’s environmental well-being. Selwyn has a unique, historic network of land drainage schemes, serving more than 24,000 hectares. The seven schemes drain groundwater to make land arable for farming purposes, and in some cases have an important flood protection function.

The land drainage network also provides important biodiversity and ecological habitats. There is a growing focus on the environmental performance of Selwyn’s land drainage network, and the District Land Drainage Committee has recommended a dedicated rate to help improve and enhance the biodiversity and ecology of this network.

What we’re proposing

The Council proposes to introduce an Ecological Enhancement targeted rate of $20 per rating unit, for properties in the district not paying a land drainage rate. The new targeted rate will generate $4.7 million over the next 10 years. The funding generated by this rate will be used for a range of projects and activities that support and improve the biodiversity of the land drainage network. Projects may include, for example, the construction of wetland, waterway plantings, and ecological, cultural and water quality monitoring.

Impact on rates

The new rate of $20 a year per rating unit, is equivalent to around 38.5 cents per week. Alongside the new Ecological Enhancement targeted rate we’re also proposing to simplify the current rating structure for land drainage. This is overly complex, with 33 different rating factors operating across the seven land drainage schemes. The proposed new rating structure provides four standardised rating factors to replace the existing 33 rating factors:

Maps showing the catchments of the seven land drainage schemes can be found online at www.selwyn.govt.nz/services/water/landdrainage. Changes to the extent of the L2 boundary have been made to include the full directly-connected catchment and it is proposed that the Leeston township is included within the Leeston Drainage District.

Have your say

Let us know whether you support the proposal to introduce a new Ecological Enhancement targeted rate of $20 per rating unit (for properties not paying land drainage charge), and the proposed simplified Land Drainage rating structure.