Sharechat Logo

Law change allowing easier sales of conservation land won't happen on my watch, Sage says

Tuesday 3rd July 2018

Text too small?

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage says she won't review law that was held to prevent her department from ceding conservation land in a swap deal, thwarting the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme last year.

Former Prime Minister Bill English had promised a review of the Department of Conservation's legislation last year after DOC and the Hawkes Bay Regional Council failed to challenge a court ruling against a land swap deal that was crucial to the water storage dam. But the new government has taken a hands-off approach to the conservation estate.

"I have no proposals to review the Conservation Act to make the disposal of conservation land easier," she said. "The Supreme Court has enunciated the law on this."

Sage's predecessor, National's Maggie Barry, had delegated authority for Ruataniwha to DOC Director-General Lou Sanson, who had said at the time the land swap stacked up from a conservation perspective. DOC and the Hawke's Bay Regional Council subsequently failed in the Supreme Court to overturn a Court of Appeal ruling that the decision to revoke was made for an improper purpose.

"Both courts held that the decision to revoke was made for an improper purpose (to facilitate the exchange) and that the specially protected status of the land could not be revoked if that area possessed the values for which the land was given special protection," Sage said.

A chapter closed on the Ruataniwha scheme yesterday with the announcement that rights to some $27 million of local and central government-funded research and development work had been sold to three Hawkes Bay businessmen for $100,000. The body of work includes resource consents that run through until 2025.

(BusinessDesk)



  General Finance Advertising    

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:
Your name:
Your email:
Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

SML - Synlait Milk Limited - Trading Halt of Securities
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
CEN - Tauhara commissioning progress update
FPH initiates voluntary limited recall
March 28th Morning Report
KFL Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Investment Mgmt.
SVR - Savor FY24 Earnings Guidance & Change in Banking Partner
NZK - NZ King Salmon Investments Limited FY24 Results
March 27th Morning Report