HCC Land Grab
Am I the only one bothered by Hamilton City Council’s land grab? Yes emotive talk but that’s the way I feel about the Significant Natural Area (SNA) designation that has been placed over part of our property. If you have trees and a gully aspect it’s likely you’ve copped it too.
Check out the SNA provisions of Council’s District Plan Change #9.
The Council proposes that I can no longer manage my trees as I see fit despite having done so for close to 30 years. My trees, I sourced them, I planted them, and my time in caring for them since. Now the council has wrapped them in red tape and I can’t do anything, or practically so, without first having a resource consent from Hamilton City Council.
A stated purpose of the District Plan’s SNA provisions:
“The Act identifies the protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna as a matter of national importance. This chapter of the District Plan identifies areas of significant indigenous vegetation, biodiversity and habitats of indigenous fauna which qualify as Significant Natural Areas – these areas can be held in public and private ownership or ownership may be split.”
Which is all very well but over the 2 to 3 decades of living in Hamilton all I’ve seen is enhancement of gully vegetation, so why do we do we now need red tape to achieve what’s been happening anyway?
Another statement in the “Purpose” rubs salt into the wound.
“The costs of protecting areas and habitats are local and often specific to an individual, yet the benefits may be local, regional and national.”
So all this cost of getting consultants to survey for bat habitat and prepare resource consent applications and planting plans and management plans should be borne by the community as a whole. But no, the boffins involved side step the reality of the cost imposed by this red tape.
Like many things that are young, little plants are easy to adore and give you a warm sense of having done well by the environment. But they grow up shutting out the sun and block roof gutters with leaf litter. You now need an expensive planning consent before solving such problems.
It’s all just more cost and bureaucracy to contend with.
Poll: Would you want an unconventional funeral?
Funerals can cost as much as $22,000 and the planning can be stressful especially at a time when loved ones are grieving. Some New Zealanders are re-imagining funerals by making their own coffin or having a relaxed ceremony at home. Would you want a less traditional funeral? Share your thoughts below.
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
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84.1% Yes
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13.9% No
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1.9% Other - I'll share below!
EarthDiverse: Te Reo Māori classes starting Wed 8 May 2024!
EarthDiverse is pleased to announce the start of its newest language course in Te Reo Māori. Our Introductory Māori classes begin on Wed 8 May 2024 from 6:30-8:30pm. We offer hybrid courses with both in-person classes based in Hamilton and live-streamed on-line via Zoom to anywhere in the world with a good internet connection. For more info on this course, and our other language, arts and humanities courses,
please click on one of the links below.
Backing world-leading work happening here
The Waikato Medical Research Foundation (WMRF) has two funding rounds a year, the first one for 2024 closed yesterday, 30 April, with ten applications received. The second is open from 1 September to 31 October, check out their website for more info see the WMRF link below.
We keenly support the WMRF through the ‘Waikato Medical Research Foundation Fund’, which its board set up with us just on a a year ago for the particular purpose of making it easier for the public to contribute towards the success of the region’s health research sector.
To find out more, check out the WMRF story from our recent Annual Report at the Momentum link below.
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