In the draft district plan, which Council is consulting on at the moment, there are proposals to manage Significant Natural Areas (SNA), which will impact some individual property owners who have SNA’s on their land. This article has been written by one of our members, and we are posting it in order to keep our residents informed. It is not necessarily a view of NCDRA. NCDRA believes that views on the District Plan are so varied amongst our community, so it will be hard for us to make a representative submission on its content. We strongly recommend that residents make their own submission, so that you views are put in front of the Council.
Wellington City Council is consulting on its draft District Plan including proposed new rules for managing the effects of activities on indigenous biodiversity in the city.
Supporting this outcome Council has identified around 5,300 hectares (18.2% of Wellington’s total land) where it considers indigenous ecosystems and habitats have significant biodiversity values, calling these Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) in the draft District Plan. The SNAs encompass around 1,700 landowners, but these are expected to increase as Wellington’s indigenous biodiversity spreads and with it the SNAs expand.
In urban Wellington SNAs comprise about 3,300 hectares with less than 350 hectares of that land privately owned. Yet these private landowners account for over 83% of all SNA landowners across urban and rural Wellington.
While a 2019 report by Darroch to Council concluded SNAs would provide overall benefits to Wellingtonians for urban landowners with SNAs they could face significant land value losses of up to 30%.
Despite what the Backyard Tāonga[1] website suggests having a SNA is not voluntary, the only option available to landowners is a land review by the Council’s consultant. Council has engaged consultants to identify these SNAs with continuing significant expenditure on ecologists to detail why land is a SNA when questioned by landowners.
Following this consultation, Council will prepare the Proposed District Plan (due mid-2022). At that time some of the rules in this District Plan (such as SNAs) will have legal effect, despite further consultation being required.
Overview of the proposed SNA rules for urban landowners
Under the proposed SNA rules, private urban landowners will not be permitted to trim or fell any native trees on their SNA land, unless these are:
- Encroaching on a formed public road or private accessway
- Within three metres of the external wall or roof of a building
- Required to comply with the Fire and Emergency Act 2017
- Required to remove imminent threats caused by dead or dying trees (but will require an arborist to assist)
| Landowners will be permitted to remove exotic trees, carry out pest control and plant eco-sourced local indigenous vegetation. But undertaking other activities (such as trimming other native trees or developing a vacant lot) on SNA land will require resource consent supported by an ecological assessment by a qualified ecologist. |
| The proposed rules will make it hard for private landowners to do anything other than watch native trees grow. There will be no rights to trim this bush to manage daylight and view shafts for social well-being, or to create simple things like a pathway. Even removing dead native trees will become difficult. |
What can you do to help?
Urban SNA landowners need your support to challenge the Council’s intention to create SNAs on private urban land in the District Plan. If you are concerned about what’s being proposed there are two things you can do to help:
- Share this document widely with your family, neighbours, friends, work colleagues and acquaintances.
- If you are a Wellington City resident, make a submission on the draft District Plan by 14 December 2021.
If wanting to make a submission on SNAs this can easily be done by using one of the submission text options on this link and emailing that to planningforgrowth@wcc.govt.nz, or if making your own submission on the draft District plan, by including comments on the proposed SNA rules.
[1] Backyard Tāonga is the public facing name used by Council so as to limit using the term SNA