Council Addresses Local Plea on Conservation Bill

By Justin Tuburan

There was a packed public gallery at last week’s council meeting seeking councillors’ support to more strongly oppose controversial conservation changes.

Thames-Coromandel councillors were looking to ratify their submission to select committee on the government’s proposed Conservation Amendment Bill, which it ultimately pushed back by a week to make changes and reflect the views of the public.

The proposed change would have eased restrictions to allow for the sale of up to 2.8 million hectares of conservation land, with the Coromandel having over 72,000 hectares of this protected status.

On Thursday, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced the removal of the controversial clause saying that the government “had no intention to sell large parcels of land, but it seems the words don’t necessarily match our intentions.”

Potaka says the pull-back comes from a campaign against the Bill where “there have been some maps that have been circulated that don’t represent our intentions”.

This refers to a campaign by conservation organisation Forest and Bird which had released maps claiming that 60 percent of conservation land across the country could be sold and/or developed for economic opportunities under the proposed changes.

Mayor Peter Revell says he saw a clear public outcry from the Coromandel community against the government’s proposal at council’s meeting.

“We were really pleased with the way people in the public forum conducted themselves at the council meeting and put forward their views with really good evidence behind those views.

Mayor Revell added that council has responded to those views by pushing back its submission on the bill by a week to reflect the views of the public forum speakers.

“People can go see the [updated] submission we’re making, and they can see how we’ve strengthened it.”

The updated submission by TCDC now includes an overall opposition to the bill in its present form, and raises concerns with the bill’s development timeframe, insufficient recognition of the role of Tangata Whenua, the focus of “economic opportunities” for conservation land, and the disregard for consultation requirements for land exchange and disposal.

Mayor Revell says that the Coromandel is a special place that residents should continue fighting to protect.

“We always have to be vigilant to protect what we have here on the Coromandel Peninsula.”

Thames-Coromandel District Council meets today to ratify its final submission on the Conservation Amendment Bill for select committee.

You can listen to our reaction interview with Mayor Peter Revell by clicking the link below.