Council plan 'impractical'

Julian Haworth.
Julian Haworth.
A move to reduce the amount of time the Queenstown Lakes District Council spends in the Environment Court seems set to end up in the Environment Court. Wanaka bureau chief Mark Price reports.

Upper Clutha Environmental Society president Julian Haworth this week rubbished a council plan to mark ''outstanding natural landscapes'' on its maps in the proposed new district plan.

He told the Otago Daily Times the idea was impractical and was tossed out, for that reason, by the Environment Court last time it was suggested, 17 years ago.

And, he vowed the society would fight the matter all the way to the Environment Court.

Outstanding natural landscapes include such things as Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, the Mt Aspiring National Park and Luggate Creek, and are a major obstacle for developers.

Mt Iron and Mt Barker are examples of ''outstanding natural features'' which would also be marked on maps.

Anne Steven.
Anne Steven.
Spelling out the change at a media briefing in Queenstown earlier this week, council staff suggested having such areas clearly defined would reduce the time and expense the council was put to at planning hearings and in the Environment Court, where decisions about what is and what is not an outstanding natural feature have previously been made.

The council's district planning manager, Matthew Paetz, said there had been a lot of Environment Court history over the years that had ''contributed to the analysis that determined'' the lines the council had chosen to include on its district plan maps.

There had also been expert input from local landscape architects.

Mr Haworth said while ''on the surface'' the lines were a good idea, those used by the council ''lacked credibility'' because two landscape architects asked to define the areas drew lines in different places.

Mr Haworth used Quartz Creek, in the Maungawera Valley on the northern side of Lake Wanaka, as an example.

He referred the ODT to a peer review done in June 2014 by landscape architect Anne Steven of a landscape assessment by Dr Marion Read, and pointed out Dr Read included Quartz Creek in the outstanding natural landscape and Ms Steven did not.

Ms Steven's conclusion noted there was ''considerable agreement'' between herself and Dr Read but there were ''key areas'' where they did not come to the same conclusion.

These included land or designations around Albert Town, the Clutha River corridor, Cooper dairy paddocks, Hawea River, Mt Brown, Quartz Creek, Hospital Creek, the Grandview Range, Pisa Range, Camp Hill, Speargrass Creek Hill, Glenfoyle and Hawea Flat.

Ms Steven considered when selecting boundaries for outstand natural landscapes ''the line needs to be practical and defensible and readily recognisable on the ground''.

Mr Haworth said the society would have less of an issue with the lines if they were guidelines to be decided later by the court.

''We will definitely appeal this to the Environment Court, because the lines are not necessarily in the right place.''

In response to Mr Haworth's criticism around Quartz Creek, Mr Paetz said the council had used Dr Read's ''more conservative'' lines that showed the larger area of outstanding natural landscape.

Work on the lines began in 2011 and the public, including rural landowners in the Upper Clutha, Federated Farmers and the Hawea Community Association, were consulted in January and February.

Mr Haworth suggested the lines would advantage some landowners and disadvantage others.

''This is highly contentious. This affects hundreds of landowners.''

Mr Paetz said just like any district plan regulation, landscape lines ''can impact on the value of land''.

''However, the protection of outstanding natural landscapes is a matter of national importance under the Resource Management Act.''

Mr Paetz said the lines were ''just a proposal'' and there was a ''degree of judgement and subjectivity''.

Wanaka planning lawyer Jan Caunter told the ODT she thought the lines were ''helpful''.

''We have previously spent time in hearings arguing about landscape classifications and the identified lines on the maps should save time,'' she said.

Public submissions on the proposed district plan close on October 23, and Mr Paetz said people were able ''to contest those lines and present their submissions to the hearings panel.

''These things are not black and white, that's why we have these processes.''

The Central Otago District Council is one of many local authorities that marks outstanding natural landscapes on district plan maps.

mark.price@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement