Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Environmental planning

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    What works best when : the role of collaboration in environmental policy and planning : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Berkett, Natasha Maree
    Conflicting views about the use of natural resources create challenges for environmental management. Scholarly theory suggests that there are different types of policy problem, and these can be identified within a framework that considers the degree of certainty over relevant knowledge, and the degree of consensus on norms and values. By determining and understanding the nature of a policy problem, planning practitioners can choose a problem-solving strategy that is appropriate for different policy problem types. In New Zealand, one policy strategy, collaboration, is increasingly being promoted to resolve conflicts, as collaboration is seen as having more effective outcomes than existing adversarial planning processes. The aim of this research is to explore how collaboration can offer better outcomes for stakeholders involved in environmental resource conflicts, compared to conventional planning processes. This study used Q methodology to examine and explore the scope for collaboration to address a policy problem that arose in New Zealand in 2012, namely how to reconcile the divergent views about the expansion of finfish farm development in the Marlborough Sounds. The study showed that there was a high degree of uncertainty over relevant knowledge and a lack of consensus on norms and values between stakeholders, indicating that finfish farm development in the Marlborough Sounds is an unstructured, or ‘wicked’ problem. The policy strategy best suited to solving this type of problem is a collaborative process that involves learning because it enables participants to identify, confront and integrate divergent viewpoints and knowledge. In doing this, participants reframe the policy problem and discover new opportunities for solving it. In this study, the greatest degree of diversity between viewpoints on finfish farm development was between industry stakeholders and others (iwi, non- government organisations, community members and governance and regulation representatives). The study highlights the need for the finfish farming industry to improve public understanding and gain support for its activities in order to achieve its growth and development goals. It also shows that, depending on the nature of the policy problems being addressed, collaborative planning processes could be adopted to manage conflicts about environmental resource use in settings other than freshwater in New Zealand.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Environmental dispute resolution and consultation within the RMA : a case study : the Fitzherbert Avenue, cross river transportation dispute : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the Master of Philosophy in Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1988) Johnston, Jane Ellen
    This thesis examines how democratically described new and revolutionary ideas came to be elucidated in the resource and environmental management framework provided within the Resource Management Act, 1991, and considers how they are given effect in current planning practice. The research focuses on consultation which seeks to resolve environmental disputes not only to achieve sustainable environment outcomes in an ecological sense, but also to give greater expression to democratic principles. This research undertaking is in response to a continually reiterated need to evaluate the effectiveness of planning practice in achieving its aims, together with a necessity to then take appropriate responses to the results of the evaluation, for instance as found within the Resource Management Law Reform reports of the 1980's, in planning publications, as well as in the Resource Management Act, 1991, itself. This thesis identifies the principles and objectives intended and anticipated to be realized through public participatory planning and environmental dispute resolution processes. It provides a theoretical framework for consideration of consultation and environmental dispute resolution processes, as it explores theory informing the characteristics of environmental disputes, and also the different types of consultation process able to be utilized for dispute resolution. The efficacy of resource and environmental management in achieving the principles underpinning, and objectives of, public participation in EDR processes is evaluated by consideration of participant perspectives of consultation processes. This research identifies and analyzes the benefits and strengths, problems and limitations experienced by participants in a variety of EDR processes that were employed to resolve a particular dispute - the 'Fitzherbert Avenue - cross river transportation dispute' - in Palmerston North, as a case study. An analysis between expectations and experience is extrapolated into an indicator of whether these EDR processes are achieving the RMA's intentions, in terms of the principles and objectives which necessitate public consultation. This research also provides some explanation for the experiences of participants, thereby indicating how and why the underlying principles and objectives are or are not being met. The research conclusions address the question, 'how well were the principles and objectives of consultation, within the context of the RMA, given effect or realised in practice?'. In drawing conclusions this thesis explores the uniqueness of a case study, but also identifies RMA implementation issues of more general relevance and interest. Analysis of generic RMA implementation issues describes consistent themes that indicate more needs to be done to effectively achieve the objectives of the RMA, as there are concerns about the abilities of planning practice and those responsible for implementing the Act to realise all its intentions. Concerns of relevance to consultation processes are discussed and suggestions for improving practical implementation of the RMA are made.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    He mahi whakamanakore : Destruction of indigenous heritage sites at Otuparae : a case study of the Otuparae headland development : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Resource and Environmental Planning, Massey University, Manawatu
    (Massey University, 2011) Simon, Hemopereki Hoani
    This thesis examines indigenous cultural heritage site destruction in Aotearoa, New Zealand. In particular, it examines what took place within a planning system to approve the destruction of the heritage site at Otuparae, near Taupo. This thesis seeks to identify what contributed to the decision to grant approval to developers without consultation with the local hapu, Ngati Rauhoto. The research is framed in a form of Kaupapa Maori Research (KMR) called whakawhanaungatanga. Analysis of critical ethnography, key actor interviews, participant observation, field notes in research journals, videos, and documents took place to gather data. A review of the colonial history of Ngati Tuwharetoa revealed that over time the Crown usurped the mana, power and sovereignty of Tuwharetoa. In doing so, the Crown left Tuwharetoa politically, socially, economically and culturally weak, forcing Tuwharetoa to enter into Crown-controlled and created legal and political frameworks. Additionally, the Crown instituted a governance model based on colonial thinking. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge about the need to incorporate different worldviews into planning to achieve sustainable development. It does so by examining how the heritage protection frameworks, in particular the Historic Places Act 1993, the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and the associated Crown agencies failed to meet their obligations, by neglecting to consult with the correct group and to meet their needs in terms of heritage protection. It then moves to provide a development framework for Ngati Tuwharetoa to better contribute to decision-making processes in the future based on the needs of hapu.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Integrating citizens' agendas in New Zealand local government environmental planning and decision-making : an examination of two wastewater planning processes and implications for deliberative democracy : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy at Massey University, Turitea, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2007) Nash, Simon Joseph
    This research considers the problem of ensuring citizens having meaningful opportunities to provide input in local government environmental planning and decision-making. Planning processes are often as much a product of uncertain human behaviours as they are the result of rational activity and formal institutional arrangements. Both the conduct and outcomes of these processes are heavily influenced by conflicts between actors’ underlying perspectives, yet these perspectives are hard to define and their influence is very poorly understood by researchers. Instead, local government research focuses almost exclusively on institutional arrangements and substantive debates over physical resources. This research focuses on the influence of epistemological and procedural dimensions of actors’ perspectives on the integration of citizens’ agendas in environmental planning and decision-making in New Zealand local government. From a deliberative democratic perspective, I examine obstacles to the conduct of an effective integrative process and consider possible practical and theoretical responses. The research studies two local government wastewater planning processes. It combines Q-methodology with interviews, observation and documentary analysis. This approach allows me to identify actors’ subjective perspectives and to consider their influence on planning and decision-making. This combination of methods has not previously been used in local government research in New Zealand. The research shows that while conflicts between actors’ perspectives pose significant barriers to the integration of citizens’ agendas, they can also offer opportunities for addressing those barriers. Integration is clearly limited by a positivist, rationalist perspective that privileges objectivity in knowledge and planning practices. Integration is further limited by a competitive adversarial perspective. Nevertheless, there is also potential where deliberative perspectives are present that are more value-critical and that seek intersubjective understanding of actors’ inputs. Such compromise-seeking perspectives contribute to more communicatively rational planning and more legitimate and durable decisions. The thesis argues that councils should foster a change among actors towards a more deliberative perspective and should champion such behaviour themselves. Such change is often obstructed by the tacit, unacknowledged, yet persistent, nature of most actors’ perspectives. The thesis concludes that while transformation of perspectives is unrealistic, a more communicatively rational planning approach is achievable as a basis for legitimate decisions that more effectively integrate citizens’ agendas.