Gore’s proposed district plan meets opposition from farmers
A move to designate the Hokonui hills near Gore as a Outstanding Natural Landscape has not found favour with some in the rural sector, with one large station saying it will severely restrict its ongoing operation.
Last month the council released submissions made to its proposed district plan, which sets the framework for managing land use and development in the district.
The council received 130 submissions to the plan, and District Plan Review Committee principal advisor Matt Heale said there were over 5542 submission points.
The plan proposes designating the Hokonui Hills as an Outstanding Natural Landscape, the Te Au Nui Pihapiha Kanakana Mataura Falls an Outstanding Natural Feature, and the Mataura River a High Natural Character Feature.
It says these areas have been assessed and identified in accordance with the Southland Regional Policy Statement 2017 criteria as having high levels of biophysical, sensory or associative landscape values.
It moves to avoid the placement of critical infrastructure within identified outstanding natural features and landscapes, unless there is no reasonable alternative due to the operational or functional need for the location; and adverse effects on landscape values can be avoided or appropriately mitigated.
The rules would be stringent for farms on the Hokonui hills, restricting the height of farm buildings, the cladding used on them and its reflectiveness, restrictions on what types of trees can be planted, and that earthworks should not exceed 1m below the original surface of the ground or exceed 100m2 in any 12 month period.
It would also impose limitations on fencing, maintenance and creation of critical farm infrastructure including tracks and roads, plantation forestry and quarrying.
In its submission, Stoney Creek Station said the proposed district plan would severely restrict its ongoing operation, and not provide opportunities for current and future generations to continue to utilise the land resource in a sustainable way as they do today.
It said: “the rules as drafted do not appear to have taken into account any practical considerations or logistical restrictions on farming activities’’.
“The provisions as drafted effectively prevent essential maintenance and any further development by Stoney Creek Station or other rural landholders (particularly within the Hokonui Hills ONL) without the need for resource consents, creating uncertainty and generating significant costs for landowners that is not proportionate to the potential environmental effects,” the submission said.
Wantwood Station, on the slopes of the Hokonui Hills said the area of its farm captured under the Outstanding Natural Landscape is 1260ha or 60% of the total property.
McLeod-Wantwood Trust-Wantwood Station trustee Coral McLeod wrote that in her opinion the restrictive rules like those proposed would not help protect the landscape value of the Hokonui Hills, but end up reducing the landscape value
“The provisions of this chapter do not acknowledge that there are working farms present in the ONL area that have existing use rights. The provisions need to be amended to reflect that existing activities are able to be continued.’’
A submission from Southland Federated Farmers said the proposed district plan as it currently stands would make many day-to-day farming practices difficult for farmers, such as fencing.
The cultural assessment which would be triggered for many farming activities was also concerning, it said.
“We struggle to see how this would work in practice and believe this will significantly slow down the consenting process for farmers and other groups in the community. We do not feel that council has the permitted activity settings right for many farming activities, and thus resource consent applications would be triggered on many occasions, resulting in onerous delays and costs for everyday farming activities for what amounts to little or no environmental benefit,’’ the submission said.
“The council should be looking for ways to support its core community: those who work and take care of the land.
“If the Plan restricts even existing use, its rural community will lose real opportunities to adapt for a better future and the entire district will feel the negative effects of that.”
Submissions closed on February 28, and hearings will be held in May.