Hawke's Bay: Country comes to town for forestry protest

Hawke's Bay protest organiser Sheena Martin (centre) at Friday's rally in Gisborne with Kerry Worsnop (left) and East Coast Federated Farmers chairman Toby Williams.

The unlikely leader of Hawke's Bay's next battle to stop highly-productive farmland from being turned into forestry says the region faces the destruction of its rural community and everything that goes with it if the conversions continue.

Sheena Martin, who farms between Napier and Wairoa and who is well-known as a sheepdog trialist, says she's never been involved in protest leadership before, but said ahead of Friday's protest in Napier: "This one's worth it".

Sheena Martin back in the day; farmer, sheepdog trialist, and now protest leader. Photo / NZME

The protest will start at Clive Square at 11am, and will involve a march through the city to a gathering at the Municipal Theatre where speeches will be made about the "effects of the mass amounts of good farming land being planted in pine trees for carbon credits".

She's been concerned about the trend for several years but was sparked by news of significant forest development on a neighbouring property, Pihanui Station, owned by Ngati Pahauwera Development Trust.

The wider concern is the continuing sale of Hawke's Bay and East Coast farms to overseas buyers, among them the 1178ha Glenbrook Station, an hour north of Napier, sold in 2020 as what real estate material described as "a traditional northern Hawke's Bay sheep and beef station".

The Overseas Investment Commission (OIC) last year approved its sale to German company Mahia Forest Ltd amid plans to turn 971ha into forestry, 80 per cent in pinus radiata.

Similar plans for Huiarua and Matanui stations near Tokomaru Bay were the subject of another protest, in Gisborne last Friday, where a 9000-strong petition was accepted on behalf of the Government by East Coast MP Kiritapu Allan. The MP said that while the grounds to turn down the applications to the OIC are limited, she doesn't think the farms should be turned into forestry.

Martin went to the protest and says in relation to the Hawke's Bay effort: "I've landed a nightmare project, but I've been really happy with the feedback. I've had contact from people all over the country who are worried about the future of rural NZ."

Of organising a protest, she said: "It's not really my thing at all. I'm much happier working dogs and stock. I'm just fed up with how things are going and seeing so many good young people losing their jobs and their dreams."

In one note she lists dozens of others parts of rural life and sectors being hit by the impacts of having fewer people on the land, from possible school closures to business impacts in urban communities.

"This is happening all over New Zealand, but at a huge rate on the East Coast," she said.