Government looks at limiting public access to Hira Forest, Nelson after safety concerns from iwi

The Government is consulting on limiting access to some parts of Hira forest (file photo). Photo / Warren Buckland

Treasury is asking for people’s views on limiting public access to Hira Forest in Nelson, a popular area for local mountain bikers.

In 2020, the Crown transferred Hira Forest to the Ngāti Koata Trust as part of the Treaty settlement with Ngāti Koata. The forest is currently owned by Koata Limited,which is wholly owned by the Ngāti Koata Trust, however forestry activities are managed by a separate firm Tasman Pine Forests Limited, which has Japanese ownership.

Public access easements in Hira Forest were issued in 1994, prior to the forest being transferred to the iwi. Those easements force the occupier of the land to allow the public to travel “over and across the access areas”, although the forest owner can close off access at night, and at certain times for safety reasons.

When Crown forest land is returned to Māori ownership, the new owners can request the Government to review existing access entitlements to have them changed, which is what Koata Limited has now done. The firm wants public access entitlements in the forest partially cancelled, although only in areas which are not currently well-traversed.

Ngāti Koata did not respond to a request for comment. The reasons for curtailing access include the fact that there are active forestry operations in the forest, which may pose a risk to the public. The foresters also intend to change the type of forestry on the land, shifting to smaller crop sizes with annual harvesting, posing a greater risk to the public. The applicants said some members of the public were accessing part of the land that they were already restricted from using, which posed a safety risk.

They said that certain areas of the public access easements are no longer being used by the public.

Once consultation on the change is finished, the Ministers of Finance and State-Owned Enterprises Nicola Willis and Paul Goldsmith can make a change by a memorandum signed by a responsible minister and registered with the Registrar-General of Land.

Willis told the Herald she and Goldsmith had “agreed to consult on the requested partial cancellation”.

“We’re interested to understand how members of the public use the various public access areas, and we expect to hear a range of views from affected parties including recreational users like mountain bikers and walkers. Following the consultation, we will make a final decision,” she said.

On October 25, 1839, representatives of the New Zealand Company entered into a deed, for an area of approximately 20 million acres between Taranaki and North Canterbury, at Kapiti Island with a number of leading Ngati Toa Rangatira chiefs.

An inquiry quickly revealed serious flaws in the company’s transaction, but the deed was used as the basis of land acquisition in Nelson.

What Koata Limited is seeking:

The areas over which they are seeking cancellation are Areas A, C, D and E and a partial cancellation of Area B (Central Rd) on Deposited Plan 14527 (orange tracks in the map below). The proposed cancellation of part of Area B will remove public access to the Eric’s Bush Covenant. Part of Area B, known as Sharlands Rd (blue track in the map below), is not included in this request and the public access easement in relation to this area will remain. Koata Limited and Nelson City Council have also recently signed an agreement to provide access to parts of Hira Forest for recreational purposes for a 10-year term, starting on July 1, 2024.

Hira Forest and Public Access Easements. Photo / Treasury

Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the Press Gallery since 2018.