Environment Ministry main Works beneficiary

Press, 13 February 1988, Page 3

Environment Ministry main Works beneficiary

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The Ministry for the Environment will be the chief beneficiary of the disbanding of the Ministry of Works by the Labour Government.

This outcome results from the wishes of the Cabinet but not the wishes of many of the public servants who have been involved in the process of dismembering the Ministry of Works during the last six months. The Minister for the Environment, Mr Palmer, is also a member of and former chairman of the Cabinet State-owned Enterprises Committee. He said earlier this week that the demise of the Ministry of Works would boost the resources of his Ministry with the transfer of the town and country planning unit and water and soil policy unit. Advice from the officials’ committee set up by the Government was not to do this, but they

were overruled. Originally it was intended to split the present Ministry of Works into two — a commercial State-owned enterprise and a Works Policy Department. As recently as last September the Government decided not to have a Works Policy Department but to divide the functions among other Government departments. This decision was communicated at the time the Cabinet set up an officials’ committee to look at transferring the Ministry of Works’ town and country planning functions to the Ministry for the Environment. It was the officials that advised the Government it

should not look at these functions piecemeal but that if the Government did not want a Works Policy Department then all that department’s functions should be reviewed. That advice was taken. An officials’ committee comprising the State Services Commission, the Treasury and the Ministry of Works then looked at town and country planning and recommended that it not be given to the Ministry for the Environment. It recommended a Local Government Department be set up to service local government, and include some of the functions handled by the disbanded Ministry of Works. That was not acceptable

to the Cabinet subcommittee which redirected its officials to transfer town and country planning to the Ministry for the Environment. The same approach was taken over water and soil policy. It too will be given to the Ministry for the Environment, with water and soil research going to the D.S.I.R. Another area in which the officials were overruled was reading. On a committee comprising the State Services Commission, the Treasury, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Transport, only the Ministry of Transport thought it should be given roading. The others thought it should not, and there was strong support from the

Treasury for the present National Roads Board to be turned into a fully fledged State-owned enterprise. But the wish of the Government to having roading considered as a “transport” matter rather than a “works” matter or as a separate entity prevailed. Mr Palmer said earlier this week that powers now held by the Government would be devolved to local government. For example, catchment authorities would have their powers enhanced. They would become responsible for water classification, setting minimum river flows and lake levels (with a right of appeal to the Planning Tribunal), land use controls and Crown water rights.

With town and country planning, each Government department would now be able to represent its own interests at hearings, and only on matters of national interest would the Crown be represented by the Ministry for the Environment.