Gloves off in battle over Auckland beauty spots

Farmers are ready to fight the Auckland Regional Council over its bid to classify huge rural areas as outstanding natural landscapes.

More than 125,000ha are destined for the classification in a proposed overhaul of the planning framework to protect the region's best coastal landscapes and volcanic cones from development.

City and district councils will be legally obliged to give effect to the revised Regional Policy Statement by inserting it in their District Plans and taking it into account when hearing resource consent applications.

But Auckland Federated Farmers president Keith Kelly believes the draft policy is trying to bring in something to benefit the public at the expense of private property rights.

"Farmers need to make changes to land use without the necessity of getting a resource consent," he said.

"The proposal places excessive emphasis on the protection for rural areas for purposes which are at odds with the productive zoning of the privately owned land."

Mr Kelly said restrictions on subdivisions would hit hard in places nearer to urban Auckland, where returns from farming were lower and land value higher.

"There is an expectation that on leaving farming the landowner should be able to make up the lower returns by being able to subdivide their properties."

Mr Kelly said just compensation would be required in the same way that taking of land for public works warrants compensation. The federation is particularly upset about the methodology used by the ARC to identify "outstanding natural landscapes".

Land owners' opinions were not sought, Mr Kelly said. Instead, the ARC did a "public preference survey". People in shopping malls were shown pictures and asked which ones they thought were outstanding natural landscapes.

The federation says this throws doubts over whether any of the landscapes on new ARC planning maps are outstanding on a national scale.

It is calling for the draft policy to be scrapped.

Mr Kelly said a large number of land owners had not heard about the proposal or had only recently heard and missed the October date for sending in submissions to a hearing next year.

Opposition to the draft policy is particularly strong in Franklin District, where a third of the Awhitu Peninsula - the west coast hills - fall under the outstanding classification.

Roger Jones, who farms cattle at the Manukau Heads, said yesterday: "It looks like we are being seriously controlled in what we can do. They are locking this place up as a park for future generations, without any mention of compensation."

Mr Jones said he agreed that the farm was outstanding landscape and he had no intention of subdividing beyond his present entitlement.

Farmers will hold a protest meeting at the Pollok Hall on Monday.

But ARC councillor for Franklin Dianne Glenn said local talk of a land grab was untrue.

"For many years they have not been able to do what ever they wanted to their land.

"All the policy says is that when the Franklin District Council gets a resource consent application from a landowner who wants to subdivide, put it into forestry and change the use of the land, the council take cognisance of the policy and whether the use is appropriate."

"We understand that people want to make their land financially viable."

The ARC has received 114 submissions on the proposed changes covering natural landscapes and volcanic sight lines.

The council says many areas of outstanding natural landscapes are already protected as regional parks, such as the Waitakere and Hunua ranges.

Last week, the ARC announced a $10.25 million deal to buy the 51ha of land at Pakiri beach, which is at the centre of an ownership struggle between boxer David Tua and his former managers.

The purchase came after the council paid $5.4 million for a 247ha block at Kaipara's South Head in October and paid $15 million for Waitawa Regional Park on Auckland's east coast near Kawakawa Bay late last year.

In addition, farmers Pierre and Jacqueline Chatelanat gave their 843ha Kaipara Harbour farm to the regional park network in October.

LANDSCAPE GEMS

* Auckland City and Hauraki Gulf Islands 38,016ha

* Franklin 22,915ha

* Manukau City 6954ha

* North Shore City 314ha

* Papakura 421ha

* Rodney mainland 34,803ha

* Rodney islands 2414ha

* Waitakere City 19,302ha

* Coastal marine area 59,607ha

Total land area 125,139ha