Waitakere Ranges
Waitakere Ranges
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THE WAITAKERE RANGES - OUR GREEN NETWORK TAONGA (Environmental Management
September ) - 2002 Agenda report of the Waitakere City Council. Waitakere City Council website - www.waitakere.govt.nz |
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RMA not protecting ranges, says Parliamentary Commissioner The future of the Waitakere Ranges was the topic on the agenda when Waitakere City mayor, councillors and community board members recently held a 'creative conversation on the future of the ranges'. Invited guests included ARC councillor Sandra Coney, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Morgan Williams, and people from local environmental and R&R associations. The greatest concern was reserved for the preservation of the foothills and the danger of subdivision. John Edgar of Waitakere Ranges Protection Society observed that 'the Regional Growth Strategy was supposed to make the ranges a no-go area, but there was more subdivision than ever because of the development of structure plans.' Mayor Bob Harvey pointed out that there was room for expansion in parts of Henderson, New Lynn and Whenuapai. 'If we put masses of people in Swanson and Oratia, future generations won't thank us.' A Swanson resident pleaded for the unique rural landscapes on the foothills and stated that if the foothills were lost, the ranges could go. WCC officer Chris Ferkins warned that the 'natural systems in the ranges are disintegrating. We could lose what we have now.' Weed and animal pests brought in by subdivision and people living close to the ARC parkland were identified by Sandra Coney as serious risks to the Ranges. Several speakers lamented that the West Coast Plan provided a plan for protecting the West Coast but as it was only advisory, it lacked teeth. The Resource Management Act was seen as a mechanism by which the integrity of the plan was undermined, as it enabled people to do what they wanted. Some residents were concerned about their individual property rights and called for compensation if they were constrained with their development plans. Dr Williams outlined models for protecting key landscapes that had been successful overseas. These included a National Park in the Peaks District in England and new legislation brought in to protect moraine landscape west of Toronto. This protected private property rights but also the rights of the wider community. 'If you rely on the RMA the ranges will look very different in 50 years than now,' warned Dr Williams. Summing up the discussion, he noted the 'consensus about what's important - a living landscape involving people. But there is still evidence that the values you cherish are still being lost. The RMA is the Achilles Heel of the whole system. After 110 years of the RMA there is evidence that the Act has had only a limited effect in protecting the actual values it was supposed to protect.' 'At the end of the day, you have to be more proscriptive. That is not a radical idea, but what our forefathers and foremothers did.' |
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