Here’s my personal submission on the Conservation Amendment Bill:
- My/our comments
The only untethered talent left in New Zealand stays because of lifestyle – for our conservation land, recreation and environment. This bill reduces the protections of New Zealand’s greatest and only ‘sales pitch’ – it enables the erosion of our only asset that is appreciating in stature globally over time. Extreme care must be taken. The pace of change and lack of consultation and input in this process, and the lack of buy-in from recreation and conservation groups, make me concerned about ulterior motives.
The lack of consultation and respect for concerned voices on this topic is disgraceful. Something this emotive and important needs to be done properly, in true consultation.
- My/our recommendations
FREE RECREATION VALUES and ENDURING FREE PUBLIC ACCESS AND TRANSIT are added as requirement alongside conservation when considering a sale or trade. Land should yield a ‘like for like’ improvement in recreational value and access alongside conservation values, else it is selling the family silver. All sales should require public CONSULTATION, not just notification. Any land disposed of should include public transit unformed legal roads designed with the community to ensure any land removals do not limit (and even increase) future access. Done well this could create cherished access routes of the future – done poorly, it’s a disgrace.
I only support limited recreational economic opportunities on PCL that do not negatively impact public recreational enjoyment. Recreational economic opportunities on PCL should return the profits to DOC, not go to private enterprise. I.e. these should be DOC or ‘Department of Recreation’ commercial initiatives. I would hate to see these changes result in international firms extracting one-time profit out of New Zealand conservation land, with a pittance back to New Zealander’s of today, at the cost of our greatest (and only) enduring asset.
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