KEY POINTS:
A plan to swap conservation land at Uretiti for the Ngunguru Sandspit has been rejected by Conservation Minister Chris Carter as not in the public interest.
Sandspit owner Landco has plans for up to 350 sections covering 36ha of the sandspit with another 85ha in reserve, possibly under the control of the Queen Elizabeth II Trust.
But the proposal stirred a storm of protest and the Ngunguru Sandspit Protection Society formed to fight it and prevent any development on the sandspit.
The Department of Conservation has been trying to come up with a solution and Mr Carter said he had looked at an idea to swap conservation land at Uretiti for the sandspit.
"An idea to privatise 386ha of conservation land near Uretiti Beach in order to save the ecologically valuable Ngunguru Spit from subdivision was not in the public interest."
Mr Carter said DoC had preliminary discussions with Landco on the possibility of doing a proposed subdivision at Bream Bay, just south of Whangarei, instead of the ecologically sensitive sandspit. But the proposal did not get near the consultation stage.
"It looked a possibility at first because Ngunguru is certainly an iconic area with high biodiversity and open space values," he said.
"But this was always going to be about shifting development from one area to another, which is just not practical.
"At Bream Bay, there is the issue of disposal of public land and concern around coastal development. In addition, there was the potential for concern from tangata whenua in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi."
Mr Carter said DoC, in conjunction with Whangarei District Council, would continue to work to find ways of protecting Ngunguru Sandspit from subdivision.
Ngunguru Sandspit Protection Society spokesman Rick Bazeley, although disappointed at the land swap being dropped, was encouraged by the minister's comments.
The group was pleased Mr Carter had acknowledged the sandspit's ecological status, he said, but of particular relevance was the minister saying the sandspit needed to be protected from subdivision.
Landco spokesman George Hulbert said the company remained open to discussions about the possibility of an exchange "and we will give careful consideration to any serious proposals that come forward from DoC".
"Meanwhile, we are focused on our sandspit project and we will keep moving forwards with our work on it."
Northern Advocate
