Dail Jones: Control of our ranges given up to the Wellington crowd

Dail Jones

The New Zealand system of fair play has taken a serious battering thanks to the Waitakere City Council's decision to breach all principles of the rule of law and remove property rights from the owners of some 8400ha of private land.

We all support the protection of the Waitakere Ranges. Aucklanders first bought land there in 1895 and a steady purchase of land means there are now 17,000ha in Auckland-controlled ownership.

This has been achieved by a system of fair play, whereby if we want something, we go out and pay for it on a proper valuation. That was the standard set by Auckland's forefathers.

Aucklanders by their ownership should decide whether there will be another twinkle of light in the ranges landscape.

However, the Waitakere Ranges National Heritage Area Bill prevents the residents of the foothills from having the same access to the Resource Management Act as other New Zealanders. They are treated as pariahs in their own country. There is a different law for them.

The legislation makes it clear that any subdivision or development in the foothills must be regarded as a matter of national importance. This brings it within the same test as, for example, power stations and hydro dams. What nonsense. Fancy having to prove that an addition to your house, your proposed new garden or a tramping group's proposed long-drop in a remote area must be treated as if it were a matter of national importance.

The residents of the foothill area have indicated they will support the provisions of the Resource Management Act and accept the restrictions that are placed on them - restrictions which prevent the type of building suggested in the scaremongering of the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society and by some members of the Waitakere City Council.

One of the significant features of the ranges since the 1950s has been an increase in foliage and greenery in the area as a result of planting in the foothills by people who have moved to that area to own a block and beautify it. This was evidenced at one of the meetings arranged by the Auckland Regional Council to discuss the issue.

New Zealand First supports the rule of law, including the protection of citizens from arbitrary decisions by those in power, such as the decision proposed by the Waitakere City Council, the Labour Party through MPs Lynne Pillay and David Cunliffe, and the Greens.

The Greens have never shown any regard for private property rights and Labour is clearly prepared to join them in this matter. NZ First supports those who believe the Resource Management Act should remain the vehicle by which to decide this issue.

The lesson in this legislation is clear. In future, instead of paying compensation to citizens for the removal of property rights, a Labour government and a Greens government would legislate those rights away. Indeed, they have done so in removing the rights of individuals to the profits associated with their forestry rights in terms of the climate control change legislation. The Waitakere bill is another stage in this process.

Legislation of the kind proposed by the majority of the Waitakere City Council and Labour and the Greens is particularly dangerous because it tends to snowball. Before we know it we lose property rights in other ways because governments point to the other party having done something similar previously, thereby justifying their action.

As an MP who was previously in Parliament from 1975 to 1984 and represented the ranges at that time, I am appalled by the Waitakere City Council's decision. The previous legislation protecting the ranges should never have been repealed by the Labour Party, the Greens and the United Party when they rushed the 2002 Local Government Act through Parliament.

The new bill will take control of the ranges and the foothills out of the hands of Aucklanders and put it in the hands of a new national heritage body controlled by Wellington.

Auckland has managed to control the Waitakere Ranges since the first purchase in 1895. Why is it that the Auckland Regional Council, the Waitakere City Council, Labour and the Greens think we are no longer competent, as Aucklanders, to manage our own affairs? Why do they want to hand our icon over to the bureaucrats in Wellington?

This bill must be opposed by all Aucklanders who want to have continued access to the ranges, be in control of their own affairs and not see New Zealand heading down the dangerous path of state interference with the property rights of small groups.

* Dail Jones is a New Zealand First MP. He is responding to Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey's support for the ranges protection bill (link provided below), and the city council's vote in favour of it.