Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz

It is obvious we are in for the long haul with the Rena recovery. Now the ship has broken in two and partially sunk, managing the recovery of the containers and the removal of the wreck is much harder.

The good news is some of the planning that has been underway is being formalised. A governance group has been set up to steer the long-term recovery of our coastal environment and an environmental recovery plan developed to address the long-term effects of the Rena disaster on the wider Bay of Plenty.

The governance group consists of representatives of the key government agencies, local and regional government, Toi te Ora Public Health and iwi representatives. It will be in place for 12 months at least. Among other responsibilities, the governance group will identify significant existing and emerging issues resulting from the grounding, oversee the clean-up progress and confirm successful delivery and sign-off when the clean-up is complete.

The Environmental Recovery Plan aims to restore the Bay of Plenty environment to as close as is possible to its pre-Rena state. It identifies the environmental issues for the beaches, seabed, water, fisheries, wildlife and management of waste and sets out who is responsible for the recovery and monitoring of each.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council is the administering authority for the governance group and has delegated this administration to the Rena Environmental Recovery Project Team. A number of council staff have been seconded to the project team and they have a big job ahead of them to monitor, collate information, assess effects and plan the recovery of our sensitive environment.

It is a real challenge, but I am confident that while recovery won't happen overnight – it will happen!

If you have any views on this or any other issue, please phone 07 579 5150, email [email protected] or visit www.janenees.co.nz