Population and holidays put pressure on space

By ANNE GIBSON



Rampant housing subdivision and development are ruining some of our finest coastal, lakefront and forest areas, says a report by an environmental lobby group.

The Environmental Defence Society has attacked various councils which it criticises for not guarding areas of natural heritage and allowing "inappropriate subdivision and development".

"Development along our coastline, around our lakes and waterways and in our high country is degrading our special places," said its report, called A Place to Stand.

The report studied five areas where it said landscapes of national significance were under pressure - the Waitakere Ranges near Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Wakatipu basin between Queenstown and Arrowtown, Banks Peninsula and Whangarei district.

It says the Waitakere ranges are under pressure from population growth, high visitor numbers and the spread of weeds throughout the forest areas.

Because they are on the fringes of the country's largest urban area, demand for further residential development is strong and growing.

Average house prices at Piha almost doubled from just over $200,000 in 1996 to $400,000 in 2002.

The report says that another 1400 houses could be built in the ranges - a 24 per cent increase on the 2001 figure - as a result of previously subdivided lots which have not yet been built on and new subdivision consents.

An increasing number of visitors and holidaymakers to the Coromandel meant that although many new homes were built, 44.5 per cent of them were unoccupied on census night in 2001.

"The increasing number of dwellings in the area does not appear to have benefited the local community which has generally low incomes and population growth," the report said.

Demand for baches and holiday homes was putting pressure on areas in the Whangarei district where the population was growing.

More than half the holiday homes and baches on the coast (59 per cent) belonged to Aucklanders.

In Banks Peninsula "several interviewees indicated that it was becoming increasingly difficult for residents to find accommodation in Akaroa due to the high price of buying and renting houses and the large number of holiday homes".

Society chairman Gary Taylor said the report highlighted the need for better conservation.

"We all have an emotional connection to our land, and this report shows that our natural landscapes are under threat," Mr Taylor said.

Society senior policy analyst Raewyn Peart said the report was the first detailed examination of landscape protection in recent years and she hoped the report would bring a review and commentary on the issue. Ministry for the Environment chief executive Barry Carbon praised the report - which was partly funded by the ministry - saying it would spark debate, particularly about the development of coastal areas.

Bayleys Real Estate spokesman Neil Prentice said his firm, which sold many coastal properties, did not want to comment on the report.

Bayleys is marketing an extensive amount of coastal property north of Auckland, including 41 sections on the 439ha BreamTail property, between Mangawhai Heads and Langs Beach.

Bayleys is also marketing part of Mataka Station, a substantial coastal property incorporating a 1000ha farm in the Bay of Islands where 19 out of 23 lots have sold.

Barrister Evan Williams, who is in a joint venture with merchant banker Bill Birnie to sell properties at Mataka and BreamTail, said his companies were spending about $2 million on planting and fencing forest and bush on the properties.

"We have programmes in place to protect several hundred kiwi at Mataka," Mr Williams said. "At BreamTail, we have pre-European kauri and programmes to protect rare bird life."

Leigh Hopper, managing director of Hopper Developments - the company behind the Pauanui and Whitianga Waterways projects in the Coromandel - criticised the report, saying if it wanted to limit development it had to target population growth.

The society would be better off lobbying the Government on its immigration and population policy.