Call to save a million-dollar forest
A million-dollar forest on the hills above Tawa is for sale, and locals are hoping Wellington ratepayers can save it from developers.
Community environmental volunteer group, Friends Of Tawa Bush Reserves, is campaigning for Wellington City Council to purchase the 36-hectare Forest of Tane.
Tenders for the area, which is marketed as a forest revenue opportunity with subdivision potential, close on February 27.
Today, councillors will receive a confidential briefing on a proposal to buy the forest, with a decision expected to be made at a public-excluded meeting tomorrow.
Northern ward councillors Peter Gilberd, Malcolm Sparrow and Jill Day will be urging fellow councillors to support putting in a bid to acquire the forest.
Friends Of Tawa Bush Reserves president Wayne Pincott said he understood the asking price was between $1.2 million and $1.5m
‘‘There are no guarantees they will agree to buy it but we are optimistic.’’
He hoped the council would offer a fair price but not over the odds because it was ratepayer money, he said.
Pincott believed removing the trees would mean flooding risks from erosion, and sedimentation impacts. ‘‘I think the council is better placed to get value for the community ... than a developer would be able to get for the commercial value from it.’’
The rural-zoned land was not suitable for higher density development and would make no significant difference to housing supply, he said. ‘‘It’s also a key to achieving a long overdue completion of the northern reserves, which are currently under-represented in the outer green belt.’’
If the council decided not to buy it, the group would consider fundraising and approaching the vendor to ask for a delay in the sale.
The land contained a large catchment with stream tributaries that flow through Tawa into the Porirua Stream and then on to Porirua Harbour.
Flooding was an issue in Tawa and removing trees would see flooding risks from erosion, and sedimentation impacts, he said.
The forest is a mix of regenerating native bush, and pine plantation, with well-developed native undergrowth, and was a large part of Tawa’s bush.
A walking track through the Forest of Tane connects Tawa with the Spicer Forest Reserve and Wellington’s outer green belt, Te Araroa National Walkway, and Colonial Knob.