Talking Point: Destroying Hawke's Bay's productive soil is 'economic vandalism'

The Soil Symposium's focus was the Heretaunga Plains. Photo / Supplied

Hawke's Bay's first ever 'Soil Symposium' - a day totally devoted and dedicated to the fertile soils of the region - was about 50 years too late, but we are so delighted it happened.

Hosted by the Hastings District Council, combined with the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, the recent symposium focused on the Heretaunga Plains.

The plains are one of the best places in the world to grow food.

It most certainly has the best soils in the world, soils that we generally take for granted and soils we have been slowly destroying.

For too long now, successive councils have encouraged and supported unsustainable growth of urban and industrial developments across the Heretaunga Plains, little by little creeping over these precious fertile soils like a cancerous growth, locking away forever these soils from any chance of producing food for generations to come.

We believe this is economic vandalism.

So this soil symposium was a really important event that now gives birth to a voice for the soils; a voice that has sadly been forgotten over past decades, but now is beginning to get the recognition it deserves.

On the day, Ngahiwi Tomoana gave us a mana whenua perspective by reflecting on his Māori ancestors and how they valued the Heretaunga Plains so much that they built their pa sites only in the hills, protecting the plains as the best food and gathering resource.

He likened the plains to the placenta in the womb that fed life to new life.

Soil scientists and a soil practitioner spoke about the value of them.

Then we had a range of food and wine producers inform us of the true value of these soils, and how these soils have, and are, helping their businesses.

We now anxiously await the arrival of the National Policy Statement of Highly Productive Land which is presumably being released imminently, which will hopefully give councils a better directive for future growth development.

We believe that our Save Our Fertile Soils group, is the only active and organised group in New Zealand that is making a stand for the soils and giving the soils a voice.

We as a group see no common sense, to be destroying productive soils forever when our focus should be building over unproductive land.

Long term vision is needed with all parties to look at the bigger picture into the future to preserve these incredibly fertile soils for future generations.

Our short term solutions are just not sustainable.

Richard Gaddum is the spokesman for the Save the Plains Group and Save Our Fertile Soils Society Inc.