Changes adopted by HDC in its district plan will see Te Matā Peak’s eastern face protected for generations to come, Heretaunga Takato Noa Māori standing committee member Mike Paku said.
The plan change adopted last week acknowledges and protects the significance and value of the outstanding natural landscape. New buildings will be prohibited and other works like fencing and planting will be limited on the eastern escarpment of the peak, from the top right down to Waimārama Road.
Paku said the many hapū of Te Matā o Rongokako mihi to the two current landowners for their recognition of mana whenua aspirations for permanent protection of the maunga Tūpuna.
“A lot of people across the community made this happen … I want to congratulate everybody on their efforts in bringing that protection.”
Despite the hurt that was caused to mana whenua when Craggy Range carved a walking and cycle track into the eastern face of the peak and the general division it brought about in the community, it had ultimately brought about this new recognition of Te Matā Peak’s importance in the district plan, he said.
“When the Craggy Range track came about it kind of dawned on everybody that there wasn’t any real protection there.”
Despite the fact that the consent should have been publicly notified and mana whenua should have been consulted because of the peak’s cultural significance, and even though Te Matā peak is an outstanding landscape and an outstanding natural feature – none of this was recognised in the district plan, he noted.
Mana whenua had never lost sight of getting protection for the eastern escarpment, he said. And at a March meeting the standing committee realised they had an opportunity to extend the protection line right down to the road.
“What we realised is that if we didn’t take the opportunity to do it, it may never come around again,” Paku said.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Bruno Chambers, a pastoral farmer and member of the Te Matā Peak Trust for many years, agreed with Paku that the track had shone a light on the lack of protection.
“I’ve been very concerned over the years as to the preservation of the surrounding area and some of it has been developed in a way that I’ve not been particularly happy with … but of course it’s great to see the escarpment and the view from Waimārama Road protected from any significant housing.”
Two houses that had previously been consented at 282 Waimārama Road will now be built elsewhere after landowners reached a settlement with the council. After an independent valuation, the owners were compensated for loss of value, which HDC reports as $351,000, with a further $30,000 provided in support for landscape and architectural design and survey costs.
The landowners had voluntarily given up any further development rights on their whole property including the flats adjacent to Waimārama Road, a council press release said.
Chambers said he was aware it had been a difficult and retracted process, and the land owners had made concessions for the long-term benefit of the vista and maunga itself.
“I think it’s great. Hats off to both parties.”
In December 2017 consent was granted to Craggy Range to construct a walking track up the eastern face of Te Matā Peak, but it wasn’t publicly notified as it ought to have been. The resulting controversy had split the community, as some residents wanted to keep the track.
Chambers described it as a “shambles from start to finish”.
Paku said the council had dropped the ball on the consent process, while Craggy Range perhaps weren’t as up front about the extent of the track as they could have been.
Hastings District Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the council had set about the long process of trying to heal the hurt when they were made aware of how abhorrent the track was to Māori – a “scar on the landscape”.
A Cultural Assessment report was commissioned, along with reports on geology, ecological and recreational value of the area in order to determine a series of options that might allow for the use and protection of the land in the long term.
These reports formed the basis of the resource consent application that was required to return the land as far as possible to its pre-development state, and the Cultural Assessment report’s recommendation that the protection line be extended from the 200 metre contour right down to the road, Hazlehurst said.
A remediation process on the track was then initiated, and Hawke’s Bay District Council has since been given the information, with the intent that a regional park may be considered as a long term goal.
Plan Change 4 will map the negotiated building prohibition area in the district plan and prohibit any new buildings within the identified area. It will also make any new earthworks in the outstanding landscape area a non-complying activity and place much greater limitations on the volume of earthworks permitted in the significant amenity landscape area.
“This will ensure that the mauri of the maunga is safeguarded into the future and allow Council to move forward with its work on further safeguarding the wāhi taonga of the district,” Hazlehurst said.
Paku said that the long-sought protection had ultimately been achieved, and while the walking track had caused a bit of tension, it had made people think more deeply about the natural beauty of the eastern escarpment and its value locally and nationally.
The decision to change the district plan had set a precedent and any drive to commercially develop other significant sites was likely to be blunted, he said.
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Peak Photo: Tim Whittaker
While this new plan change will prohibit any further development in the future, new consents been issued for 2 houses, a supplementary house, 3 garages, 3 swimming pools, a woodshed and an implement shed not just 2 houses as noted in this article.
Common sense rules at last !
Congratulations to all concerned, not least the two landowners, for having the vision to protect the landscape for the future.