Too much West Coast land deemed ‘outstanding landscape architect – 1News

A landscape architect has poured cold water on the process to identify 78% of the West Coast as "Outstanding Natural Landscapes" in its proposed "one" district plan.

Landscape architect Hadley Mills said designating so much land as "outstanding" would just add unnecessary costs and compliance to landowners.

Mills was one of two landscape architects to critique the methodology of designating Outstanding Natural Landscapes (ONLs) during the The Te Tai o Poutini Plan hearing in Westport yesterday.

Local authorities have been required to identify these outstanding areas for over a decade.

Under the proposed combined District Plan for the West Coast, 54 Outstanding Natural Landscapes areas encompass 78% of the region.

Mills, a former West Coast Regional Council planning manager, said this would add another layer of compliance, including consent applications, adding costly landscape assessments for landowners.

Mills called for the Outstanding Natural Landscapes chapter to be scrapped, noting many people had not realised the implications for their land.

The Te Tai o Poutini Plan could utilise the existing Conservation Act to govern Outstanding Natural Landscapes given most of the West Coast areas were within DOC estate where activity is permitted, he said.

Mills said the Te Tai o Poutini Plan Outstanding Natural Landscapes seemed to be derived from maps containing "inaccurate and unchecked" assessments of vegetation "and not rechecked by a human".

"This is totally unacceptable for such an important planning document which has real impact on people's lives, and will apply to 78% of the West Coast."

A map detailing the 54 Outstanding Natural Landscapes designated in the West Coast's proposed 'one' district plan. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)

Mills said classification amounted to two thirds of the 2.3 million ha of the region.

"Approximately 1.8m ha of that is being proposed to be classified as Outstanding Natural Landscapes. That is 78% of our entire region approximately 7% of New Zealand's land area," he said.

He also referred to the 2022 NZ Institute of Landscape Architects guidelines on "outstanding" landscapes, which said it was "a matter of reasoned judgement".

"Outstanding" should be done in the West Coast context, not on a national or international basis as appeared to have been done, Mills said.

Most West Coast residents could see DOC land from their homes, but that did not mean those areas were "outstanding" in the local context, he said.

The Te Tai o Poutini Plan hearing panel challenged Mills about the relatively low submissions on the topic.

Mills replied that the more heated Significant Natural Areas debate had overshadowed the topic despite it having similar implications for private land.

Landscape expert James Bentley, representing Manawa Energy, said they supported a review already of the plan's Outstanding Natural Landscape section but it did not go far enough.

"A fundamental starting point for any regional landscape assessment is to acknowledge all landscapes, not just those that are 'outstanding'," Bentley said.

"It is only after acknowledging all landscapes, through a landscape characterisation, that assessment on the 'special' or 'outstanding' landscapes can be determined."

Farmland at Turiwhate in the Taramakau River valley caught within an Outstanding Natural Landscape designation in the draft Te Tai o Poutini Plan. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)

Bentley said he believed the Te Tai o Poutini Plan work was at a "high level", without being ground checked.

This resulted in mapping errors and "broad sweeping descriptions", some being "almost generic", he said.

Bentley said it was important Manawa's hydro schemes within an Outstanding Natural Landscape were recognised "as modifications" within the Te Tai o Poutini Plan to inform future planning decisions.

"Very little, if any, modifications are described within the [ONL] schedules which from a policy perspective creates a distorted assumption that Outstanding Natural Landscapes are pristine," he said.

Questioned by commissioner Sharon McGarry, Bentley said adjustment in the Outstanding Natural Landscapes schedule and the boundaries needed "a pragmatic approach".

That included first understanding all the features in a landscape including its human footprint, and the underlying cultural values which should then be detailed in a schedule.

"It's all context dependent. That's why those two process, where the [boundary] line is and what is in the schedule needs to go in tandem".

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Too much West Coast land deemed 'outstanding landscape architect - 1News