The Waitaki Property Guardians formally launched at Ngapara on Thursday night following disquiet over the Waitaki District Council’s district plan review process.
Nearly 100 people packed the Ngapara sports pavilion for the meeting.
The Guardians first announced a presence in early November as "a new voice" for rural and urban Waitaki residents.
This came after about 30 Waitaki landholders failed to gain traction with Waitaki District Council staff over its draft district plan.
The landowners had wanted the council to be more consultative at the draft stage.
Proposed large map overlays — imposing new planning restrictions — over huge swathes of land was a particular worry.
The new overlays appear to ride over the existing use rights of landowners, with the real possibility of generations of traditional farming practice in the district being swept aside.
On Thursday night, Waitaki Property Guardians chairwoman Kate Macgregor said the group would now fight for Waitakians through the statutory submissions process.
The district council voted on December 17 for the plan to be formally "proposed" for public submissions from March 1.
The Guardians’ launch was to encourage both rural and urban people to join.
"Our key role is to advocate for landowners and ratepayers," she said.
"We’re here for every ratepayer in the Waitaki District Council [area]."
Ms Macgregor said the group envisaged engaging planning expertise to challenge aspects of the draft plan, and to offer support to individual submitters.
A resolution to the meeting to engage appropriate professional support gained 100% support.
The impact on "private property rights" through the draft plan’s provisions was a particular concern.
Ms Macgregor said the Guardians acknowledged the council had to review its district plan.
But they remained "strongly opposed to blanket overlays".
The contentious overlays are now included in every new district plan across the country.
They include Outstanding Natural Landscapes (ONL), Sites and Areas of Significance to Maori (SASM), and Significant Natural Areas (SNA).
Resource Management Act and Otago Regional Policy Statement provisions, and national policy statements such as for Indigenous Biodiversity also set the district plan’s parameters.
Waitaki Guardians committee member Sven Thelnig told the Ngapara meeting the implications of the mapped overlays needed to be particularly challenged through the submissions process.
This was despite their best effort previously to effect change in the draft because once it was notified, aspects of the plan became immediately legal.
This would significantly impact affected landowners in having to make expensive land use consent applications for what was often now permissible without consent.
Ms Macgregor said from the date of notification on March 1, ratepayers and residents had 46 working days to get their submissions in.
"We actually have to follow through the process to be able to make some change."
She urged submitters to be quite specific in identifying aspects of the plan they did not agree with — and to say more in a submission than "I don’t like it".
They also should be prepared to speak to their submissions once the plan reached formal hearings, Ms Macgregor said.
Getting the draft plan to the point of calling for submissions has been elongated.
When the council voted on December 17 to notify — a year later than planned — Crs John McCone, Guy Percival and Brett Cowes asked for their opposing votes to be recorded.
And it came just days after the Waitaki District Plan review subcommittee played catch up in wading through 133 previous and unratified district plan resolutions and unpassed minutes from nine meetings between late 2023 to last December.
Members of the committee became grumpy as they tried over two meetings to marry up recommendations based on what been discussed long ago.
