Contentious plan change a reality
After a decade of legal wrangling, a Mackenzie District Council plan change which will impose limits on farming and development in the basin sub zone is now fully operational.
Plan Change 13 (PC 13) has been the subject of much wrangling between environment and farming interests, with multiple appeals to both the Environment Court and the High Court since it was released for public consultation in 2007.
The process is estimated to have cost the council at least $1.4 million.Mackenzie District mayor Graham Smith said there was now a ‘‘robust’’ plan in place for viable farming in the basin.
‘‘Unfortunately, maybe there wasn’t enough consultation on the process at the very beginning.
‘‘We’ve had to do a lot of environmental work, we’ve had to do landscape artist work. We had to do a lot of work to actually get this plan across the line.’’
Central to the plan’s framework is its declaration that the Mackenzie Basin is an ‘‘outstanding natural landscape’’, which means that restrictions are placed on development in the basin area.
Environment Defence Society (EDS) chairman Gary Taylor said he was confident the council would be able to implement the new rules.
‘‘They’ve come a bloody long way in a short period of time. I’ve been impressed by their increasing professionalism and attention to detail,’’ Taylor said.
The EDS became involved in the process when thenEnvironment Court Judge Jon Jackson asked the organisation to join the appeal.
‘‘It’s been a process that has been appealed every step of the way by landholder interests,’’ Taylor said. ‘‘It’s taken an extraordinarily long time, even by Resource Management Act standards.’’
PC 13 uses a range of different planning tools to protect and enhance the outstanding natural values of the Mackenzie Basin. These include declaring certain places lakeside protection areas, or scenic viewing areas, which means developers have to take visual sensitivity of the landscapes around the major lakes and high country landscapes.
Federated Farmers High Country chairman Andrew Simpson said the success of PC 13 will be down to how its rules were interpreted.
However, he felt it would put an impediment on farming in the Mackenzie Basin.
‘‘It is our role to be good custodians of the land,’’ Simpson said. ‘‘It is too early to tell what the effects of the plan will be, and it is up to us to work with councils and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to find solutions to mitigate any possible effects.’’
Taylor was pleased with the fact that PC 13 was finally fully operational, as it would provide greater protection of the basin’s natural values, and bolster the protection of native ecology.
However, he said there were a number of issues in the basin that needed to be addressed.
These issues included the implications of the Government’s intention to stop tenure review, and how it relates to the fate of high country stations Simons Pass and Ferintosh, both of which are going through the tenure review process.
‘‘We’re hoping for the best outcome for Ferintosh and the leastbad outcome for Simons Pass, which already has consents for major dairying conversion,’’ Taylor said. He was also hoping for some good outcomes from the council’s plan change 18, which focuses on managing indigenous biodiversity in the district.