Farmers’ big ‘land grab’ along Canterbury rivers
The fringes of some Canterbury rivers have been absorbed into expanding farms, resulting in the loss of thousands of hectares of public land to private development.
The issue – known as ‘‘agricultural encroachment’’ – has happened incrementally over several decades, and is adding to the many pressures facing the region’s internationally significant braided rivers and the rare ecosystems they host.
Environment Canterbury (Ecan) research has found nearly 12,000 hectares of Canterbury’s river margins have been taken over by intensive farming between 1990 and 2012.
About 60 per cent of that land was developed through private land sales but nearly one-quarter was public reserve land effectively privatised and developed.
Authorities in charge of public land all acknowledged land had been taken and developed without permission.
None of them were able to quantify how much and, in some cases, the encroacher was allowed to keep the land after meeting certain conditions.
The result had been a ‘‘massive transformation of riverbed margins’’ in Canterbury’s lowlands, a problem now starting to spread into the high country, said Forest & Bird’s Canterbury conservation manager, Jen Miller.
‘‘Forest & Bird has become increasingly concerned over what appears to be an increasing land grab of our public land in the high country for private economic use,’’ she said.
’’Further, it is exacerbated by the failure of agencies such as DOC [Conservation Department] and LINZ [Land Information NZ], charged with managing this land, to act when they become aware of the illegal development occurring.’’
Late last year, structures started appearing in the Selwyn River bed.
Among them was a makeshift road about 2 kilometres long, a long stopbank, land cleared for pasture, and pivot irrigators placed into the ground.
After a local complained to Ecan, the development was traced to nearby dairy farmer Mike Dewhirst, who had allegedly expanded his farm into the riverbed, which is dry for much of the year.
After a complaint, Ecan ordered Dewhirst to stop with an abatement notice. It said the work was not authorised and an investigation was ongoing.
While not a braided river, Ecan’s data shows the Selwyn has lost 400 hectares of margin land since 1990.
Collectively, the Rakaia, the Rangitata and the Waiau rivers have lost about 7000 hectares to development. – Fairfax NZ