Neighbours bolster Molesworth ‘status quo’ camp
A farmer with land next to New Zealand’s largest high country station is concerned ‘‘unaffected people’’ with little-to-no knowledge of the area are getting the chance to decide its future.
The Department of Conservation started an online survey on the future of Molesworth Station, between Marlborough and Canterbury, in January to gauge public appetite for a radical rethink of the farm.
The survey follows up a 2013 management plan for the 180,000-hectare Molesworth, about the size of Stewart Island, which looked to move the station away from its traditional farming focus to include more recreation and conservation activities.
But Molesworth neighbour Steve Satterthwaite, of Muller Station, said getting rid of farming could create ‘‘major ramifications’’ for the environment.
‘‘As far as Molesworth is concerned, I believe it should continue to be farmed and there’s plenty of reasons as to why,’’ he said.
Without farming, there could be pest problems and weed issues, as well as a huge fire risk, Satterthwaite said.
It was concerning the public could weigh in on the future of the Molesworth and potentially ‘‘sway’’ what happened with the station, he said.
‘‘It really concerns me that unaffected people that have no knowledge of the utilisation of Molesworth and the risk associated with not farming it can potentially have the input to sway the politicians or the decision-makers because of their numerical numbers,’’ he said.
‘‘We are in the east of dry land zones, and if the fuel was allowed to be completely uncontrolled and public have unlimited access, the risk of a major fire in that environment would be one that would need to be considered seriously.’’
The farming lease on the 5000-odd cattle farm was set to expire in 2020.
Satterthwaite said while he was not against public access, there needed to be some restraint as to when it was open to the public.
‘‘It’s got quite a lot of recreational use now, and if it is going to continue to be farmed, there does need to be at times some constraint on public access so that it doesn’t disrupt the farming operation,’’ he said.
Satterthwaite did not want to see the road through the Molesworth open year-round as it could be risky for ‘‘naive’’ drivers in winter, he said.
‘‘There’s a risk of them getting into trouble and there’s no cellphone coverage, there’s no opportunity to call for help, the onus is left on the people that live there.’’
Middlehurst Station farmer Susan Macdonald said she would like to see farming at the station continue, with the possibility of providing a little more public access.
She said it was ‘‘important’’ for farming at the station to continue for pest and weed reasons.
‘‘I would like to see it continue to be farmed in harmony with the environment and in harmony with people.
‘‘There’s a lot of land there and I think it’s got a huge value in terms of agriculture.’’
J Bush & Sons Honey co-owner Murray Bush said the ‘‘status quo’’ needed to continue into the future.
‘‘I think there is a good balance between public access and farming but not having farming would actually make the property go backwards, I believe, and then it wouldn’t have that same appeal to the public,’’ he said.
Bush said allowing public access to the station year-round could create a safety risk.
‘‘If you open the road 52 weeks of the year and let people just do what they want ... if it was never closed and it was open, there’s no communication up there so unless there’s millions and millions and millions of dollars going to be spent on public access safety ... it’s not an environment to be taken lightly,’’ he said.
In January, following the temporary closure of State Highway 1, ‘‘two or three’’ vehicles ran out of fuel while travelling through the Molesworth and had to be rescued by DOC staff.
DOC community ranger Chris Wootton called the road ‘‘incredibly long [and] unsealed, it’s quite a challenging driving environment for people who aren’t used to driving on unsealed roads."
The Molesworth survey had about 4000 responses so far and would remain open until April 14.
Wootton was shocked at the number of responses, he said.
‘‘To tell you the truth, the response has been phenomenal.’’
Wootton said it indicated a high level of interest in the future of the station. ‘‘We are really pleased about the response,’’ he said.
The Molesworth management plan in 2013 received about 70 responses. Plans to co-locate Blenheim’s colleges ‘under review’.
‘‘With population increase they will need space. Just get on with it.’’ ‘‘No help for Marlborough from this govt, the region is too blue.’’