Bid for new access road denied
A crayfishing company central to the south Marlborough town of Ward is facing an uncertain future after its bid for an access road along the coast was shot down.
Environmentalists have welcomed the decision, but it has also led to speculation about whether Burkhart Fisheries will continue to operate its factory in the town.
The company, the single biggest employer in Ward, had applied to form a 1.5-kilometre road from Ward Beach to the Chancet Rocks, part of a scientific reserve.
The road was needed to access a new launch site after their old site at Ward Beach was left unsuitable due to seabed uplift in the quake.
However, in a decision released on Friday, commissioners hearing the application rejected the proposal, saying the road would have adverse effects on the environment.
The land the road would have gone through, part of a conservation zone, was described by submitters as an outstanding landscape, and one of wild, pioneering beauty.
Lawyer for Burkhart Fisheries Quentin Davies said at the resource consent hearing the quake had called into question the future of Burkhart Fisheries and of Ward itself. ‘‘What we now face is a decision that is likely to be as transformative for Ward as the earthquake,’’ he said.
Much of the crayfish processed at the Ward factory was caught off the surrounding coastline, raising questions about the viability of the factory if they could not launch in the area.
Dennis Burkhart said the decision seemed to suggest the company had the option of driving on the beach, which they had wanted to avoid by constructing the road.
He said he was surprised by this position, and that the formation of an existing paper road would have had less of an impact than the earthquake.
‘‘The decision says that it ought to be central government and not local government who should resolve this problem,’’ he said.
‘‘We will work with the council and central government to find a way to keep jobs in Ward.’’
Marlborough Environment Centre member Tim Newsham, who submitted in opposition to the proposal, said he was pleased consent had not been granted.
‘‘When I visited the Chancet Rocks I was totally blown away that this gem existed here in Marlborough, and that it was so accessible by foot,’’ he said.
‘‘You can’t have working bulldozers and other vehicles sitting there - it’s so incongruous that it would have compromised the natural beauty.’’
The proposed road would have been formed on an existing paper road, and the commissioners said they had no legal power to impose restrictions on who could use it.
‘‘At present, the Chancet Rocks area is protected by comparative remoteness and inaccessibility,’’ the decision document said.
‘‘If enhanced public access - and, in particular, enhanced vehicular access - is available the adverse effects will be more profound.
‘‘In addition, road construction will in itself impact adversely upon both the natural character of the coastal environment and ecosystem values.’’
The commissioners also disagreed with the argument put forward by Davies: that the application was a disaster relief exercise where the relevant planning documents did not adequately cover the effects of the earthquake.
‘‘What we cannot do is to use earthquake-related changes to justify a ‘reading down’ of relevant planning documents,’’ the decision said.
The decision document also discussed alternatives, including accessing a farm track that ran above the beach to the Chancet Rocks on private property forming part of Chancet Farm.
In his evidence, Dennis Burkhart said they had made an offer to compensate Chancet Farm for using the farm track but the parties had failed to reach an agreement.
However, Alex Thomson, who helped his parents run the farm, said at the hearing the sticking point was a matter of valuation, and his family was still prepared to negotiate with the Burkharts.