Plan to bill high-country farmers for scenery on leased land only fair, say conservationists

Taxpayers will finally get what they are entitled to when the Government includes the value of natural beauty in high country rents, conservationists say.

But high-country farmers warn that any large rent increases will kill off farming on leased Crown land, and they will seek legal advice on the Government's plans.

In response to a valuers' report released yesterday, the Government has found that rents paid by high-country pastoral lease-holders have not taken into account "amenity values", such as spectacular views, which can greatly increase the land's market value.

"Pastoral lease rents are set every 11 years. The changing property market in that time has really highlighted the impact that characteristics such as landscapes and views, and exclusive access to them, are having on the prices being paid for land," said Land Information New Zealand acting chief executive Warwick Quinn.

"In some cases, this may mean substantial increases to rents for pastoral leases. The Government recognises that this may have significant financial implications for some high-country farmers and the Crown."

The report and the Government response were welcomed by lobby group Forest and Bird.

"It should help address the fact that the public and conservation have been short changed ... by an inadequate and narrow valuation process which has favoured leaseholders," said the group's Eugenie Sage.

"Pastoral leases include some stunning natural areas and spectacular landscapes. These location, landscape and amenity values clearly belong to the Crown, but leaseholders have exclusive occupation and enjoyment and can deny the public access."

The High Country Accord, which represents high-country farmers, is disturbed by suggestions that farmers should pay for scenery on land being used for grazing animals.

"It's quite unfair to be rented on something you can't generate income off," said spokesman Ben Todhunter.

"If you use the amenity values for generating income, you get charged a recreation permit on that as well. I think the Crown is trying to have its cake and eat it too, really.

"Most New Zealand high-country farmers generate their income from running sheep. If you include amenity values in those properties, I suspect the ones with amenity values will find it very hard to survive."

It was a matter of interpretation of the law and farmers would be seeking their own legal opinion, Mr Todhunter said.

The Government has been going through a process called "tenure review" in recent years, where it buys back high country land leased by farmers and gives some to the Department of Conservation for public use and returns some to the farmers as freehold.

Conservationists and scientists argued the process had been heavily in the farmers' favour, and those concerns led the Government to commission the valuers' report.

The report concluded that there was a contradiction in law over the addition of amenity values to the value of land which should be clarified.

Land Information NZ found the law was clear that amenity values should be part of pastoral leases.


Factbox

* The Crown owns 2 million hectares of high-country land in the South Island from Marlborough to Southland.

* It leases 245 high-country pastoral areas, used for farming.

* Leaseholders' rents are reviewed every 11 years and the Government wants to increase those that have not taken into account values such as scenery.

* Officials will meet leaseholders and other groups and report to the Cabinet in March.