Farms valued for more than just scenery
Released 20 Dec 2010
Rhea Dasent Federated Farmers regional policy advisor
The Kaipara District Council has notified Chapter 18 of their District Plan, which means that it is now officially open for public submissions. Chapter 18 deals with landscape protection, but the Council decided to omit it when the rest of the Plan was notified in October 2009, because the work on identifying the special landscapes hadn't been finished yet. Federated Farmers supported this move because all the information should be collected before making any decisions.
Federated Farmers recognises that special and natural landscapes deserve to be protected, and that councils have obligations under Section 6(b) of the Resource Management Act to this end. Most of these landscapes are already in Department of Conservation or Crown ownership and are used by the public for tramping and generally enjoying nature. Landscape features such as the volcanic plug in the Tokatoka Scenic Reserve and the Trounson Kauri Park with beautiful native bush and rare species should be protected from inappropriate development. Kaipara District Council has mapped these and other features as "Outstanding Landscape Areas" in Chapter 18.
However Federated Farmers does not support moves to afford the same kind of protection to farm land. This doesn't recognise that farm land is used for primary production and that it needs the ability to change. Different forms of production have different scenic values, compare pasture to forest for example. There is a risk that land use won't be able to change and that scenery becomes more important than production. Federated Farmers opposed the "Overlays" in the proposed Kaipara District Plan for this reason.
Federated Farmers is concerned about the "Visual Amenity Landscapes" in Chapter 18 and the possibility that these may also be mapped over farm land. We strongly encourage farmers to check the Planning Maps to find out if their farm is categorised as a Visual Amenity Landscape.
It looks as though landscape protection is creeping over farm land in Kaipara, first Overlays in the District Plan and now Visual Amenity Landscapes in Chapter 18. While there are no rules for Visual Amenity Landscapes proposed, it could be the thin end of the wedge.
