Significant fines handed out today to a Crafar farming company and members of the Crafar family are a clear sign of the intolerance the courts and the wider community have for environmental offending that further degrades water quality, says Environment Waikato.
Environment Waikato has appointed investment company Mercer to advise on the long-term strategy, strategic asset allocation and implementation of the council’s $54 million investment fund.
Environment Waikato and Waipa District Council yesterday signed a formal agreement to help fund one of New Zealand’s flagship conservation projects aimed at protecting habitat for native plants and birds on Maungatautari.
Environment Waikato is encouraging Hamilton, Waipa, Waikato, Hauraki, Otorohanga, Thames-Coromandel and Waitomo residents to ring their local council about eDay collections happening in their area over the next two weeks.
Vigorous lobbying by a strongly united Waikato Regional Transport Committee has been a major factor in the Government’s decision to speed up development of the Waikato Expressway, says committee chairman Norm Barker.
Waipa District Council has made steady progress and spent more than $190,000 to protect Waipa’s threatened peat lakes over the past 12 months, under a financial arrangement with Environment Waikato.
The Waikato, New Zealand’s leading electricity generation region, is launching the country’s first regional energy strategy at the Beehive on Wednesday, as it seeks to help ensure the country continues to have access to reliable energy at an affordable price.
Environment Waikato has carried out precautionary tests in the Firth of Thames to help rule out any risk to people and pets following reports of animal deaths on Hauraki Gulf beaches.
Environment Waikato and Thames-Coromandel District Council are applauding the efforts being made by a developer to ensure a proposed Coromandel beachside residential development doesn’t detract from the natural character of the area.
Environment Waikato has made a submission to MAF Biosecurity New Zealand signaling its support for the commercial harvesting of the invasive seaweed Undaria pinnatifida – but only in areas where it is already established.
A Matamata dairy farmer and an earthworks contractor have collectively been fined nearly $59,000 in total for illegal, large-scale earthworks which led to tonnes of extra sediment getting into the Waihou River in 2007.
Waharoa dairy factory operator Open Country Cheese has been fined more than $11,000 over the illegal dumping of up to 20,000 litres of sludge which contaminated local waterways.