It has refused to accept maps it commissioned showing potential SNAs up and down the Coast and was planning to circumvent the process by using general rules to regulate the clearance of indigenous vegetation.
Opposition has come from landowners aggrieved at being ordered to preserve something they have already preserved, frustrated at the prospect of having to seek resource consent to do certain work in an SNA and worried about a drop in their property value.
But Grey district representative Anton Becker told the committee his council had identified, mapped and ground-truthed SNAs 15 years ago and general vegetation rules would not work in his district.
"We identified 74 SNAs... and it was promised to those farmers who gave up land that there would be no more vegetation clearance rules."
Some farmers had given their SNA land to the Department of Conservation or protected it with QE11 covenants on the basis of that agreement, Cr Becker said.
"Outside their SNAs they have no vegetation rules and we want to stand by that," Cr Becker said.
"We have discussed this at length with staff and we believe our SNA provisions are robust enough to withstand scrutiny against the Regional Policy Statement."
(The RPS is the regional council document that sets environmental standards for the West Coast. It reflects national policy and law).
Grey District mayor Tania Gibson endorsed her councillor's statements.
"We will still advocate that the SNA process isn't right or fair, but (general vegetation rules) would mean everyone has to get a resource consent and our guys would have to go through the whole process again. So this is our stance."
Principal planner Lois Easton said it would take some of the heat out of the issue to have separate rules for Grey, but she was not sure that would be defensible (if appealed in the Environment Court).
"It might be … we will have to decide what to do once the National Policy Statement on Biodiversity comes out. We don't know where this will take us; it's gone a bit quiet and it may not be prioritised for progress right now."
Iwi rep Paul Madgwick wondered if Grey district stance could undermine the regional position on SNAs.
"The whole point of the Tai o Poutini plan is that it's regional; having a carve-out for Grey district? I understand where you're coming from but I don't know that it's helpful.
"When push comes to shove and the other side gets their hands on it ... I don't think they'll stop because we've got 70 SNAs."
If the council took the other road and had some ground-truthing done (ie had an ecologist physically inspect the sites) some potential SNA areas could be halved, Madgwick predicted.
Buller Mayor Jamie Cleine said the Grey District Council's stance almost certainly undermined the committee's decision not to identify individual SNAs, and its ability to defend that position.
"I can easily see it leading to an appeal and the judge saying 'Grey has done this, now you all have to do it.' The committee agreed it wasn't going to go up everyone's drive and do assessments and general vegetation rules avoid that conflict."
Westland Mayor Bruce Smith said he did not care as long as there were no SNAs in Westland.
Buller councillor Laura Coll McLaughlin said the committee needed to be clear that SNAs existed whether or not the councils chose to identify and map them.
"When people apply to clear areas, consent staff will be looking at properties against the definition f what an SNA is. So they might not be mapped and you might not think you have one, but they're still there. It's just that we haven't put (listed) them anywhere.
"We can't make them not exist by not identifying them."
The approach taken with general vegetation rules minimised the impact on the numbers of people, Cleine said.
People who did not want to do anything with their native bush were not affected -- it was only when someone wanted a resource consent that the SNA criteria kicked in.
Planner Lois Easton agreed to provide a report on the implications of the Grey district stance for the December TTPP meeting.
The technical team has completed the bulk of the document and is on track to release it for public comment in January.
Disclosure: Te Runanga o Makaawhio chairman Paul Madgwick is also the editor of the Greymouth Star. He took no part in the commissioning, writing or editing of this LDR story.
