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RMLA CONFERENCE - LAKE TAUPO VARIATION WINS AWARD Simon Berry and his team attended the Resource Management Law Association (“RMLA”) conference in Hamilton on 6 – 8 October 2011. Simon lead a workshop entitled “The Rear End of Rural Industry – Dealing with Nitrogen Leaching” which considered the legal / planning, scientific and practical ramifications of Regional Plan Variation 5 (“RPV5”), the groundbreaking variation to the Waikato Regional Plan which introduces controls on farming activities to reduce nitrogen discharges and thus protect Lake Taupo water quality. Simon Berry and Craig Malone were legal counsel for the Waikato Regional Council in the hearing before the Environment Court in 2008. The final decision on RPV5 was released by the Environment Court in July 2011. At the conference dinner on Saturday night, RPV5 received the RMLA Documentation Award. The Documentation Award is presented at the discretion of the RMLA for publications which have made a significant contribution to the development of the law, theory or practice of resource management. RPV5 was seen as well-written and structured, and was forward-thinking and innovative. Regional Councillor Stuart Kneebone; Senior Policy Analyst, Justine Young, and Simon received the award at the RMLA dinner on Saturday, 8 October 2011 “I was absolutely delighted that RPV5 received this award. The development of controls to deal with nitrogen leaching by controlling farming activities created very significant challenges for the Regional Council and the farming community. The fact that we were able to develop plan controls that are not only working in operation but are of such quality as to receive an RMLA award is a testament to the large number of talented people who worked on the project. The Environment Court process, involving a significant amount of issue identification and expert caucusing was also very constructive and contributed to the quality of RPV5,” says Simon Berry.Simon Berry was also elected to the National Committee of the RMLA at the conference.
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