[pf] NZ Green Party water policy

**  Betsy and Molly: in Minnesota and Maine (& elsewhere, if someone else
will contribute), is drinking water normally supplied by a public utility
which is able to make and enforce the-equivalent-of by-laws, as our
Regional Authorities (RAs) and Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs), can?
These two control water in most places in NZ; the RA: water quality in the
source(s), and TLA: providing the reticulation and charging for water
supply, in many cases using meters.

**  My second, but main question, is: can a citizen bring a legal action
for tort, against the water supplying body?  Assuming there are laws
(by-laws?) governing relevant factors like quality of water and reliability
of supply.

**  Apparently there are limitations to this re TLAs and RAs, here in NZ.

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>Auckland has proposed a water policy that is about to be sent around 
>the provinces for discussion.
>  Contact your policy networkers if you want input.
>Karen Davis
>Auckland Policy networker
>

Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 10:29:03 +1200
From: robert evans <.-.-.@purangi.co.nz>
To: GreenPolicy <GP@greenLists.org.nz>
Subject: [GNGPGV]Water

This posting refers to policy - development
                  and to news - information re TLAs, legal issues


Green Party policy discussion on water issues must recognise that the
existing civil-engineered centralised reticulated methodology of water
supply and wastewater treatment and disposal/reuse and management is now
outmoded obsolete and environmentally unsustainable

and that the concept of public ownership via regional and territorial local
authorities is misleading and simplistic - reducing the ability in law to
bring action for tort as a tool to enforce sustainability and thus
necessarily contrary to the Green Charter

this is not so for private ownership

private ownership is not necessarily corporate ownership

corporate/company owners of infrastructural assets including resources do
not have the legal protection R/TLA's have

but their raison d'être is not necessarily conducive to the Green Charter -
therefore

we are constrained to define a private owner being a "public" owner that
can be held legally accountable, and that is within the terms of the Green
Charter

It would therefore seem that the appropriate decision makers are
individuals and co-operative groups of individuals


robert

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sent on to Positive Futures by David.
(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/
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