The Ashburton District Council might have to spend $1 million over five years protecting areas of significant indigenous vegetation under a new national policy for indigenous biodiversity.
Council supports the aim of the policy, which is about stopping some native plants and animals disappearing forever.
But it does have concerns about the cost of identifying significant natural areas and managing them, and is making a submission to Government.
Council would be required to identify and map significant areas within five years, and put them on a schedule which would be updated every two years. It is suggesting a more realistic timetable is up to 10 years to map and then update every eight years.
The regulatory costs could be up to $1,095,000 over five years, plus Plan Change costs up to $247,000 and biannual update costs. Ratepayers would cover these costs.
"As a district with a large amount of land to review, including remote high country stations, it can reasonably be expected that the costs for Ashburton District will sit towards the higher end of this range," council’s submission to Government says.
The Mid Canterbury plains have been highly modified over the past 100 years and little original vegetation remains. Some farmers, including Cr Angus McKay, have fenced off areas of indigenous kanuka or other native plants, for protection.
Indigenous biodiversity includes native plants and animals, pristine mountain forests, regenerating bush, native scrub and grassland.
But as there is no compensation for private landowners for not being able to use the protected land productively, council says the issue can be contentious and must be carefully addressed.
The lack of compensation and constraint of use might lead to advance destruction of the biodiversity that the national policy seeks to protect.
Landowners, already dealing with the impacts of proposed water quality changes and agricultural emissions, needed support as well as councils, the submission said.
Submissions close nationally on February 27.
