People who have worked on their land for multiple generations do not need to be told how to look after it, a Southland District councillor says.
The Southland District Council is reviewing the natural features and landscapes section of the District Plan and how Southland’s natural features and landscapes are managed.
Speaking to the Southland Express, councillor Tom O’Brien said he believed the review was a waste of time because the work had already been done and there was already ample research completed by experts in the field.
"It’s a huge, costly exercise which is not going to yield any different results.
"There’s a guy called Emeritus professor Sir Alan Mark, who’s done extensive research, has written thousands of pages on this ... he started doing this back in the 1970s and has dedicated his life towards doing it," Cr O’Brien said
According to council documents, the review of Outstanding Natural Features and Lands, and Visual Amenity Landscapes included what was already listed on the District Plan and provided an opportunity for other ‘special landscapes’ to be added so they could be "looked after ... for now and for future generations".
The documents also disclosed the review was necessary to meet the legal requirements of the Resource Management Act.
A council spokesman said the review could mean some protections being put in place to safeguard identified special landscapes.
"Outstanding natural landscapes and features such as national parks, lakes and mountains, may have high restrictions placed on them."
While identified locations with "amenity values" would depend on identified characteristics, he said.
Council was also evaluating which areas needed to be updated such as Te Anau/Fiordland, Stewart Island-Rakiura and most of the coast because they were presently only covered by landscapes regulation.
Cr O’Brien was concerned the review had the potential to add another unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
Landowners, especially generational ones, understood the needs of their land because they considered themselves caretakers, he said.
"We protect it, it’s an inter-generational thing. We’ve been here for 120 years and we’re carrying the mantle of caretaker and we don’t actually need anyone else to tell us how to do that.
"We don’t need to be told what they [special features] are and what we need to do with them. We just need to be able to be given the tools to be able to manage what we’ve got, effectively and cost effectively."
Many landowners had already put covenants in place to protect endemic features on significant parcels of land, he said.
"I questioned whether or not it’s actually necessary based on what we already know ...
"We should be challenging this and saying, ‘Do we need this?"’
The review also intended to cover plantation and carbon farming forestry issues.
But Cr O’Brien said pine trees in the hill country areas were "a recipe for disaster".
"They’re a scourge on the landscape — we all know that, and we don’t need to be told anything more about it. We just need to be allowed to manage it accordingly.
"That might be one of the positive things that comes out of this [review]," Cr O’Brien said.
Cultural landscapes were also being reviewed.
A Ngai Tahu spokesperson said they were unsure if any mana whenua groups would be registering any cultural or special features.
Submissions could be made on the Southland District Council website.
- By Toni McDonald
