Bill raises fears for future of public land

Allowing the Waimea dam to use Department of Conservation land through a local bill sends a signal that the conservation estate is ‘‘open for business’’, a submitter says.

Parliament’s governance and administration select committee yesterday heard submissions for and against a local bill that would grant the Waimea dam 9.67 hectares of conservation land, needed for the reservoir of the proposed dam.

The $102 million project is proposed for the Lee Valley.

Forest & Bird top of the south regional manager Debs Martin said Forest and Bird’s main concern was that the bill would be seen as a way to gain access to conservation land for development ‘‘ad hoc’’.

‘‘While it cannot set a precedent in a legal sense, it sends a clear signal that local bills may be used to enable local projects that national conservation law does not allow.’’

She said this had already been hinted at by Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule, who said he was a ‘‘hugely strong advocate for water storage, and at every opportunity [he] will bring those schemes back to this House’’.

Forest & Bird legal counsel Sally Gepp said this underlined the organisation’s main concern.

‘‘It’s not just about what this bill does, it’s about what these bills do, in terms of the integrity of the Conservation Act. It cannot help but send the clear signal, which the member for Tukituki has picked up, that the conservation estate is open for business for proposals like this.

‘‘If development propositions from now on start from the proposal that ‘it may impact on conservation land, but that’s no problem we can work around that’, then we’re looking at a very sad state of affairs in New Zealand and a whittling away of New Zealand’s protected conservation areas.’’

Supporters of the bill said it was

‘‘We’re looking at a very sad state of affairs.’’ Sally Gepp, Forest & Bird legal counsel

necessary despite its encroachment into conservation land, and any damage to the environment would be offset by an associated biodiversity plan.

Boysenberries New Zealand Ltd managing director and chairman Julian Raine said his organisation supported the bill ‘‘in its entirety’’.

‘‘I see losing just over 9.5 hectares of state forest as a small price to pay for the means to build the dam. To have reliable water is vital to ensure that our growers can continue to grow good berries.’’

Raine said the dam would also improve the health of the Waimea River downstream.

‘‘Higher flows are good for the health and ecology of the river, for the life both within it and around it. The flooding of the headwaters, again, is a small price to pay for a better environmental outcome further down the river and all the way down to the estuary.’’

Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne said secure water supply was ‘‘the most critical and urgent issue’’ for the Tasman District Council.

‘‘This augmented water is needed to improve flows in the Waimea River system and to futureproof our community water supply system,’’ he said. ‘‘Without a dam, there will be major implications, including severe cutbacks in allocation to current water users and constraints on the council as community water suppliers. Water restrictions will be more common, and . . . these will become progressively more severe as droughts kick in.

‘‘It is unfortunate that the reservoir encroaches on Mt Richmond State Forest Park, but for all the reasons outlined in our submission, we support the bill.’’