Countryside feels city heat

The shift of people to rural areas in search of a better life is picking up - and so are concerns the trend will create countryside conflicts.

A new report, New Zealand: An Urban/Rural Profile, released yesterday shows rural areas close to New Zealand cities are the fastest-growing localities in the country and boast populations with the highest incomes.

The report is based on 2001 census information, Statistics New Zealand data and information from other government agencies.

It is the first analysis of rural and urban areas in more than 20 years.

Report author Alex Bayley said the population increase in rural areas close to cities was due mainly to urban sprawl - ever-increasing numbers of city people opting for a quieter life in the country.

"A lot of it is the lifestyle-block people moving out of these centres."

However, that could cause a clash between "the traditionalists and the new [city] people moving there", Mr Bayley warned.

He believed the lifestylers would continue to focus their attentions on the city, and spend most of their money there.

People whose minds are more involved with the city would be less likely to become involved with local groups such as volunteer fire brigades, he said.

The report shows those living in rural areas close to cities earn an average of $631 a week, almost $100 more than the national average of $539.

Mr Bayley said that was attributable to well-paid city workers moving to rural areas.

Mayor Mark Ball, whose Franklin District borders Greater Auckland, said the answer to the rising commuter population in country areas lay in careful planning of sub-divisions and the areas in which they are approved.

Franklin's population of about 57,000 had been expected to rise to 73,000 by 2020 but is now tipped to top 89,000, Mr Ball said.

That had implications for ratepayers, and long-established residents were unlikely to be happy.

The mayor said many Franklin residents expected rate increases to keep track with inflation, but that would be unsustainable given the population growth.

The township of Patumahoe was an example of an locality struggling to cope with an influx of people from Auckland.

"That was just a rural-type village. Now we have got to get them on the sewage scheme, and we have to punch through 7km of farmland [from Pukekohe] to do it."

Such development would have to be paid for through rates, he said.

Many local authorities - such as those on the Kapiti Coast and in the Wairarapa - were suffering the same problems.

The rural lifestyle block paradox

An influx of city dwellers to rural lifestyle blocks outside Auckland has created a phenomenon Franklin District Mayor Mark Ball calls "reverse sensitivity".

He uses the term to describe the problems that develop when "a whole lot of urban-type issues [develop] in rural areas".

In one example, a family living on a lifestyle block took it upon themselves to shift a herd of the neighbour's dairy cows to another paddock because they could have spoiled a barbecue.

That tale left Mr Ball dumbfounded when he heard it.

"There is no thought in there that the grass they are eating today is milk that will be drunk tomorrow."

Mr Ball said other issues that potentially caused problems included agricultural noise, which irritated lifestyle block owners.

The mayor believes such problems could be resolved by careful consideration when land in farming areas is subdivided.

Factors such as soil quality could be taken into account when deciding where to develop housing areas for families working in the city.

That would avoid city families being housed in localities more suited to agricultural pursuits.

"If you want an acre of land for your daughter who wants a pony, it doesn't matter what sort of land you have got."

Growth & decline

* 33.3 per cent population increase in rural areas close to cities in 10 years to

* 2001. 5.9 per cent population decrease in more remote areas.