Brian Rudman: Election is perfect time to test politicians' commitment to volcanoes

One of the 'cones', the greatest assets and 'taonga' of Auckland. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

It's hard to pick which is worse - that private fencing contractors have cut a swathe of destruction across five of Auckland city's iconic volcanic cones before anyone noticed, or the fake hand-wringing and hollow threats of legal action coming from the Town Hall.

The last thing they want is a fuss because it would soon emerge that if anyone needs to be hanged, drawn and quartered, it's the politicians and the bureaucrats who yet again have failed to protect the city's heritage.

Back in February, Mayor John Banks was describing the cones as among our greatest assets and a "taonga" of Auckland. That was in the same breath as he and the Citizens & Ratepayers majority were voting to slash the annual maintenance budget for the city's 23 volcanic features in half, to a miserly $457,000.

"In a perfect world, of course we'd spend more money on preserving this natural heritage," the Mayor said, but "there's no cash around". He said "we are running this council by affordable progress" and it was either raising rates "or something has to give". In a perfect world, of course, the councillors would have pared back the $1.8 million of ratepayers' money being spent on fireworks and artificial grass for the waterfront opening-night celebrations of the Rugby World Cup instead. They would have instinctively known that protecting the real volcanoes was more important than throwing money away on "Vesuvius" pyrotechnics.

But with Auckland City about to be consigned to history, the priority now is to ensure the new Auckland Council does better. The bright spot on the horizon is that the isthmus' volcano-centred public parks are to be grouped in a special division with the Auckland Regional Council's 26 regional parks, in a parks, sports and recreation department to be headed by Ian Maxwell, director community, Manukau City. He was previously a director at Auckland City, but for now at least, let's not hold that against him.

My hope is that the nationally and internationally respected holistic culture of the ARC's parks department becomes the governing ethos of the new parks division. Unlike Auckland City, the ARC not only prepared fine-sounding management and heritage plans for its parks, it also matched the words with action and commitment. Indeed, as ARC chairman Mike Lee said to me the other day, "The regional parks were about the only thing you can spend money on in local government and still be popular."

The volcanic cones certainly need that sort of love and attention, after years of neglect and, if you recall Mt Roskill and the motorway plans, council-approved destruction.

Friends of Maungawhau chairman Kit Howden highlights the benefits of the professional ranger service, used by the ARC and Manukau City, and wants it adopted by the new council to babysit the protected cones as well. He says a ranger would have stopped the recent trail of destruction across Mt Roskill, Mt Albert, Mt Hobson, Mt Taylor and Mt Wellington in its tracks. In such a situation, an on-site ranger would have been instantly aware of something untoward, or be quickly alerted by his network of volunteers and neighbours. The ranger would be like the custodian/security chief at a commercial building - the eyes, ears and guardian of the place.

In a properly run park, it wouldn't have got to this situation because the ranger would have been part of the decision-making process about new fencing anyway. Rangers are jacks of all trades, having specialised expertise in farming, or horticulture or birds perhaps, but also generalists, able to recognise the signs of old Maori occupation, for example, and be aware of the dos and don'ts of heritage sites.

It seems so obviously the right way to go for our volcanic parks that I'm quietly hopeful there's a brighter future ahead for the cones. Of course it will also require extra funds to bring the unique volcanic landscape up to the standards worthy of the World Heritage Park status the Department of Conservation is seeking.

With an election looming, what better time to test Mr Lee's claim that parks are popular. Press candidates for public commitments on the volcanoes. Don't get fobbed off by vague promises to protect "taonga". Interrogate them on their commitment to a ranger service. Get them to add a zero to the pathetic $457,000 the old Auckland thought its cones were worth.