Stakeholders and the general public were invited to provide comment on the Draft Methods Paper for the sustainability assessment during October 2007. Twenty two submissions were received, representing a broad cross section of the community. The sectors or groups who provided submissions include:

• Environmental conservation
• Timber industry sector
• Water sector
• Indigenous community
• Academics
• Local government
• General public.

The comments received have been carefully considered and many of the comments have been incorporated within the Final Method for the Sustainability Assessment.

In reply to stakeholder and public submissions, the Final Method for the Sustainability Assessment is based on principles that aim to deliver:

• Transparency of process
• Transparency of data sets with the establishment of a data warehouse
• A process that values meaningful stakeholder and community involvement through the Stakeholder Reference Group and community consultation, the outcomes of which will be considered during the analysis stages of the assessment
• An assessment based on high standards of the research work and where peer review processes ensure data sets applied are robust
• Results that are consistent and cognisant of other government initiatives
• Information relevant to stakeholders and the general public by providing progress reports and the results of research work on the website.

The most common comments received relate to suggestions for additional environmental, social and economic impacts and these have been incorporated into Appendix E of the Final Method. Suggestions for additions to the data warehouse have been included in Appendix C.

Further feedback will be provided to stakeholders and members of the public where issues raised require further discussion or fall beyond the scope of the project.

Feedback on public comment - Method for the Sustainability Assessment (PDF~90kB)