Farm plans a second covenant
SIMON and Kirstin Engelbrecht are set to increase the longterm permanent protection of the biodiversity on their sheep and beef farm in East Otago.
The couple hosted more than 20 people on their Goodwood block, about 10km south of Palmerston, earlier in the month.
A stop on the field day was a 1.5ha QEII National Trust covenant on the farm.
The covenant was established by former farm owner Graham Thurlow in 2003.
Mr Engelbrecht was set to establish another covenant by fencing a few hectares on a sunny face of a hill on the farm.
The proposed area was unstable and prone to erosion.
‘‘When we get more than eight inches of rain, it just lets go — this whole countryside is unstable when it gets really wet.’’
Trust Coastal Otago representative Cathy Rufaut, of Dunedin, speaking at the field day, said a covenant was a legal agreement which formally protected blocks on private land.
The ownership of the land was not changed under the agreement.
However, the covenant was registered on the title of the land and it transcended the sale of the land.
The six attempts to remove a QEII block from a land title had been unsuccessful.
‘‘That’s why it is a serious decision when you put up a QEII block, because you need to bargain on it being there forever.’’
The trust helped fund fencing the block, plantings and the control of pests and weeds.
A landowner did not pay rates on their QEII block.
Of the about 5000 covenants in New Zealand, about 200 were in Coastal Otago, which had an average size of about 55ha.
A QEII block could feature a walking track, she said.
‘‘‘QEII don’t think their covenants should be museum pieces; they should be used and enjoyed by people and sometimes by stock, if there’s a management need for that.’’
The Goodwood farm also included an about 25ha coastal lease block owned by the Yelloweyed Penguin Trust.