Icons on the block

By ANNE BESTON

They are places that tug at the hearts of New Zealanders, the beaches, lakes and mountains that expat Kiwis dream of on a cold and dreary London afternoon.

The future of two such places - a Coromandel coastal farm and Kaikoura Island, off Great Barrier - has rekindled a debate about which pieces of New Zealand are preserved and which are left to the schemes and dreams of private owners.

After five years, the efforts of Ian and Miranda James to strike a deal with public agencies over their 450ha coastal farm at Te Kouma, on the Coromandel Peninsula's western shore, look likely to succeed or fail over the next few months.

And the campaign to preserve Kaikoura Island has begun again, undaunted by the failure of attempts stretching back to the 1970s.

Lapped by Coromandel and Te Kouma harbours, the James farm is valued at between $7 million and $10 million and has been owned by the family since 1895. It includes 13km of prime waterfront with panoramic views of the Hauraki Gulf.

Kaikoura Island - asking price $10 million - is 564ha of rugged beauty off the coast of Great Barrier Island near the entrance to beautiful Fitzroy Harbour.

While governments traditionally face a long list of premium properties deemed worthy of purchase with taxpayer dollars, these days the trade in what is known as "trophy foreshore" is global, and the buyers just keep coming.

Last month Canadian singer Shania Twain reportedly offered $16 million for the 17,000ha Motatapu Station on Lake Wanaka. And Hollywood actor Susan Sarandon is rumoured to have bought land in Northland.

British singer Roland Gift has owned his remote coastal hideaway on the Coromandel for some years.

"Waterfront property, from Queensland's Gold Coast to Chesapeake Bay to Cannes, is regarded as a finite commodity," says Massey University senior lecturer in real estate Graham Crews. "You could almost price all of it in US dollars.

"It's not just about retiring baby-boomers. There is a flight to the sunbelts by jaded city dwellers and while once we had people fleeing this country, now we've got it happening in reverse. The tyranny of distance has suddenly become an asset."

The James farm is no longer economic to run. Mr James, 55, and his wife have retired blocks of it for conservation over the past five years as they negotiated with both central and local government over their Te Kouma Farm Park concept.

At times they have been tempted to throw in the towel.

"We really thought the wheels had fallen off last year, mostly because of regional council Environment Waikato's position," Mr James says. "But while it might take another year to come together, it does seem there are lots of positives there now."

The turnaround is partly because of Local Government Act changes which mean regional and district councils are now charged with promoting "social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing".

Councils are also encouraged to "work in partnership" with other agencies for "community outcomes".

While Federated Farmers, the Property Council and the Forest Owners' Association opposed the changes, worried that spendthrift councils would splash out on warm fuzzies ahead of core sewerage and rubbish services, the changes gave Waikato's regional council the chance to finally commit to Te Kouma.

This year its annual plan flagged a new $3 to $5 "targeted rate" for "natural heritage" and, according to council corporate planner Kevin Collins, a clear majority of submitters favoured the idea.

A "business case" study by Auckland-based Meritec consultants, paid for by Environment Waikato, was also meant to smooth the way. It was almost breathlessly enthusiastic, noting the James' generosity and patience.

But the devil is in the detail. While no big sums will change hands up front, the family want $250,000 a year in perpetuity, to subdivide a 22ha block into between eight and 12 sections - either for sale or for their six children - and to retain the neighbouring 10ha "homestead block" with exclusive rights to any commercial activities on the beachfront below.

The report acknowledges risks to both public agencies and the family. What if the James find they cannot live with hordes of campers and visitors every summer? While farm returns will offset some of the rental costs, will it continue to gobble up ever-increasing amounts of public money?

Unlike its northern neighbour, Auckland Regional Council, Environment Waikato has never been in the parks business and its councillors are divided over whether it should be.

"Opinion is divided on whether we should open this particular pandora's box," says Coromandel-based councillor Evan Penny.

"The key message that keeps running through my brain is: What is it exactly we are buying?"

A "messy" deal, according to ARC councillor Mike Lee, involved for a second time in the Kaikoura campaign.

"Environment Waikato want to get into this dumb idea of kind of buying [Te Kouma], but it's a bad precedent," he says. "You have to buy it clean or it'll be a mess for generations to come."

Leading conservationists don't necessarily agree.

Environmental Defence Society spokesman Gary Taylor, involved in two successful Government land buys this year - Karikari Peninsula in Northland bought for $2.7 million and Waikawau Bay on the Coromandel's east cost bought for $3.54 million - believes outright purchase is not the only answer.

Next month the society, with the Institute of Landscape Architects, is hosting a two-day conference on the loss of "outstanding landscapes".

Speakers include judges, scientists, Maori, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the head of the Ministry for the Environment and a raft of conservationists.

"Prices are burgeoning and so we have to find new ways of doing things," says Mr Taylor. "Where you've got a willing landowner and an innovative council, you can do a deal. The owner retains the land and the public gets access."

Forest and Bird national president Gerry McSweeney agrees.

"Some would argue that this whole debate is about land use, not land tenure," he says. "While there is mounting pressure to buy Kaikoura, it may not be the best use of conservation dollars."

Instead of buying the island outright, complete with fallow deer, pigs and rats, why not just include it in the next-door neighbours' conservation plans?

This week American conservationist Ralph Benson, invited to Auckland to bolster the campaign to save chunks of Long Bay Regional Park from developers, is also preaching the "work with them, not against them" message.

"The greedy developer mindset doesn't work," he said.

Thames Coromandel District Mayor Chris Lux is strongly backing the James deal. The next step is an "agreement in principle", he says, ideally involving his council, the ARC, Environment Waikato and the Department of Conservation.

"We can't muck the James around any more. While it's a concept that's difficult for a lot of people, we have to keep the vision in mind."

But ARC parks and heritage chairman Bill Burrill says his council has its own 21-park network (each costing around $400,000 a year to run) and will not be involved outside Greater Auckland, despite regular reminders from Mr Lux and Environment Waikato that a significant portion of his ratepayers holiday in their region.

Then there is DoC. It is making only vaguely supportive noises about Te Kouma.

"It's a thoroughly beautiful place," says Waikato conservator Greg Martin. "There's no way anyone standing on that land could not be inspired to think, 'Wouldn't it be great if this was available to us?' But everyone is standing back until someone else makes a move."

DoC and the ARC are also adopting a hands-off approach on Kaikoura. That has galvanised the Forest Restoration Trust, a body that has saved thousands of hectares of forest, to save Kaikoura by embarking on the biggest fundraising campaign in its 20-year history.

Argument goes on over whether the island would make a better tribute to Sir Peter Blake than the planned $10 million glass exhibit on Auckland's waterfront, and the debate over "iconic landscapes" does not look likely to end soon.

"There are another six to eight properties around the region if we open this particular door," says Mr Penny.

"The sums of money are very, very high but the James have been exceedingly patient - everyone else has just subdivided and fled."