Views differ over land purchase

Press, 3 May 1977, Page 2

Views differ over land purchase

Staff reporter The purchase of 665 acres of wetlands on the shores of Lake Ellesmere, by the N-uth Canterbury Acclimatisation Society is likely to cause controversy within the organisation.

The society voted unanimously at a ' recent meeting to buy the land at auction for $48,500. in the interests of conservation, preservation. and ~s a valuable shooting ground. I Some members, although in favour of the purchase, are perturbed that fishermen’s licence levies were used to provide facilities for shooters.

; For many years, chiefly because there were more fishermen in North Canterbury than shooters, the society has been funded mainly from fishing licence fees. The fisheries section of the society now says that the money spent may well have been better invested in, for instance, fish research. However, the fishermen’s contribution to the land purchase has been small. A sum o $20,000 was provided by the South Island Council of Acclimatisation Societies as bridging finance, and $14,000 was granted by the Department of Internal Affairs. There is no doubt that the shooter will get better use of the land. The area, three and a half miles of shore at the northern end of the lake, is seething with game birds. . Pukeko, geese, ducks, [swan, and heron abound in [the area which, when open Ito shooters next year, could (accommodate 200 shooters.

The area will not be open to shooters this season, bei cause arrangements have not been completed yet. The land was bought from the Van Egan estate and, !caught the interest of the (North Canterbury society about two years ago. It was then offered for sale at ! about half its present value. ■The society made an unsuccessful offer at the time. ■ Any shooter will be free

next year to set up hides on: the land, which has access; from Wolfe Road and Em-; bankment Road. It has also been suggested; that shooting areas should be balloted annually, to give! (new and younger shooters ai chance of using the area. Many older shooters feel. ;strongly about “their” areas,' land some are loath to give! (them up. The chairman of the North | (Canterbury Acclimatisation I (Society (Mr B. Williams): sai'. that the fishing sec-: tion’s complaint might be! (justified as money from; (different Sections should be; fed back for that section’s! i good. However, he added, the! Hand was bought for the! public good, and fishermen; j would benefit from the pur-1 (chase. The land would be vested in the Crown, although the 'society would be responsible | for administration of the lland, “This is a major step in !the society’s existence. We (have paid double for it, but lit is worth it,” Mr Williams (said. That the purchase of the land was worth while is not disputed by the fishermen. They also see the conservation and protection of the land as a major step forward. They see it as a matter of who should pay. and who will reap the benefit. There are many fish in the lake, possibly millions. The main species present are believed to be suitable for commercial fishing i.e. flounders and eels. Brown and rainbow trout, perch, and sometimes quinnat salmon are in the lake.! However, it is feared that? euthrophication of the lake, may have taken a heavy toll] of fish. There has been a dramatic! decrease in the number of; commercial fishing vessels working the lake; 44 registered fishing vessels work-1 ing in 1965, but only 28 in, 1971. Before the establishment of an eel-fishing industry in!

11969, commercial interests; ihad requested that the Jake' Ibe opened to the sea, to! allow more fish to enter. I ; It is generally believed that] (Lake Ellesmere and its sur-j I rounding wetlands are of, 'more use to the. shooter! (than the fisherman. ! A survey carried out last; (year by a group from the; (University of Canterbury! (amongst anglers showed that! 127 . per cent of fisherjnenj (used the Waimakariri and; (tributaries, 17 per cent used: (the Rakaia and tributaries, 9i I per cent used Coleridge, and ill per cent used the Sel-;wyn-Ellesmere catchment. : It has been suggested that jthe game reserve owned by ■the society at Greenpark (should be sold and the proIceeds given to fishermen. ; The 26-acre block, now ! used ostensibly to rear game birds, is believed to .be ' worth more than $50,000. It has also been asserted that money from fishing , fees has been fed into the 1 Greenpark reserve for years, and that the fisheries section should be reimbursed by its /sale. Whatever section within . the organisation pays the ; final bill for this or any other land purchase, it . should be remembered that I the sportsman paid in, the first place.