Further submissions are invited in support or opposition to those received on the Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan. A total of 145 submissions were received and a summary of changes requested by submitters can be found at: www.ecan.govt.nz/hwplan

Around half of all submissions were concerned with three parts of the proposed plan: prohibiting the damming of Lake Sumner and the South Branch of the Hurunui River; reducing the amount of water allocated; and not increasing the nutrient limit in the plan's Schedule 1 to 120% of the 2006-2009 level.

Key points in relation to making a further submission:

Further submissions must be limited to supporting or opposing an original submission.

Any member of the public with an interest in the plan may make a further submission, not just those who have already submitted.

A copy of the further submission must be served on the person or organisation who made the original submission which it refers to, within five working days of sending the further submission to Environment Canterbury. The closing date for further submissions is 5.00pm, Monday, February 27, 2012.

The proposed Hurunui-Waiau Regional Plan (in full, the Hurunui and Waiau River Regional Plan) was notified last October when the moratoria on consents for the two North Canterbury rivers ended. It will sit alongside the operative Canterbury Natural Resources Regional Plan and provide specific rules for managing water and the cumulative effects of land use in the Hurunui-Waiau water management zone.