No ‘formal’ policy

Press, 4 December 1978, Page 2

No ‘formal’ policy

The Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park Board, which has insisted all along that it has been adhering to “board policy” in declining Mr Saunders permission to extend his new home on foreshore reserve, does not have such a policy. At least, at no time has it ever formally, by resolution, adopted a policy used by the IL a n d s and Survey Department after it took over the administration of the Sounds from the department, in 1973.

This was made clear in a report to the board’s December meeting on Friday.

The report originated from a request made at the October meeting by Mr P. W. Maplesden. At that time, the board was told by the chairman (Mr I. B. Mitchell), who is also the Commissioner 1 of Crown Lands at Blenheim, that various matters relating to living accommodation on Sounds foreshore reserve were in line with “board policy.”

Mr Maplesden said he was not prepared to vote on one issue until he had seen this “policy.” He spoke of the inflexibility of it. It was not produced that day, and Mr Mitchell said it would be provided at the December meeting. The report traced the administration of parts of New Zealand’s coastline from the days _ of colonisation and “the Queen’s chain” to 1973 when the maritime park was gazetted and the board took over the administration of the Reserves and Other, Lands Disposal Act, 1955,

from the Lands and Survey Department. This act, created in the Marlborough Sounds “Sounds foreshore reserve.” I; One of the purposes of: the act was to control the!: erection of new buildings,: and another, to legalise they encroachment on foreshore! reserve by persons who had! erected their houses, sheds,! boatsheds, and other ■ buildings before the new I, legislation. The department pursued this policy very strictly until the board was formed!: and took over the] department’s functions relating to Sounds foreshore! reserve. At its meeting on February 2. 1973, the I department’s standard policy|i on the administration of:> foreshore reserve wasp circulated to members. Thatji policy statement made no|i m e n t i o n of living!; accommodation on foreshore reserve, and, according to': this latest report, “the' board’s appreciation of this! was a continuation of the! policy of the department’s.” i That same year, faced! with an application to extend living accommodation already on foreshore reserve, the board formulated a! policy for such extensions, i This remains the only! policy decision on living: accommodation on foreshore reserve adopted by the! board after discussion and formal resolution. The report continues by attempting to justify | previous decisions as > “policy decisions” by stating: [that “in all the board’s! 'dealings with matters: relating to buildings on |foreshore reserve the

.decisions reached clearly 'indicate a continuation of ithe policy of the i Department of Lands and ! Survey.” I It continues: “On the past performance of the board, and by giving recognition to cases considered by the board since its inception, the policy the board is practising ... is clearly evident although it has not been spelled out in writing.” But the fact remains — at no time has the board sat down and considered Lands and Survey Department policy, its inflexibility or otherwise, and formally approved it as the policy of the board. This now raises interesting legal ramifications. The board could well argue that in accepting the administration of the Sounds from the department, it had also accepted its policies. ( With a decision on the board’s books to begin legal 'proceedings against Mr ■Saunders, this question (could well be resolved in a (court of law. Until Mr Saunders approached the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) the matter of his encroachment had not been referred to the Minister of Lands (Mr V. S. Young), although there is provision for the board to do so. The board has, in fact, specifically declined already to ask him to adjudicate. ( He is now involved, but, (in the light of the situation [that the board does not have l a formal policy on living (accommodation in the (Sounds, the Minister may (need to view his final decision most carefully.