Impartial park study urged

Press, 22 August 1979, Page 13

Impartial park study urged

T Wellington reporter ’ An independent committee to investigate all aspects of land use in the Lewis Pass region has been called for by a conservation organisation, Action for Environment. Such a committee could bring together all the various findings and recommendations from the Government departments and advisory bodies involved, said the organisation’s secretary, (Mrs R, Rains forth), The public could then be asked to comment on a comprehensive report prepared by the committee. This report, together with public submissions, could then form the basis of recommendations to the Minister of Forests, Lands, and the Environment (Mr V. S. Young). “In this way some of the petty inter-departmen-tal rivalry might be avoided,” said Mrs Rainforth. A recent announcement by the Forest Service concerning a Victoria State

forest park had now largely predetermiend the outcome of discussions on land use in the Lewis Pass region. It was not quite clear that the gazetting of the forest park would go ahead even though this procedure had been delayed until the Lands and Survey Department had finished its Lewis Pass study. In these circumstances there seemed little point in calling for submissions on the Lands and Survey Department’s report. The battle would be fought between two Government departments, the Forest Service and Lands and Survey, with the public largely helpless bystanders even though asked to make submissions. The two departments should get together to sort out their differences before seeking submissions from the public. “To invite submissions on two totally divergent plans is but an exercise in futility, wasting both public and private resources,’’ said Mrs Rainforth.