Act annoys farmers

Press, 12 April 1984, Page 15

Act annoys farmers

PA Whakatane Bay of Plenty farmers want the Historic Places Act reviewed after the prosecution of an Opotiki farmer who bulldozed the site of a pa last year. The prosecuted farmer consulted local Maoris before bulldozing some trees to make a track, and was told the site was not important, the chairman of Opotiki branch of Federated Farmers, Mr Jack Brown, told a meeting of the Bay of Plenty provincial executive. The farmer went ahead with the work, and was

prosecuted by the Historic Places Trust. The remit from the Opotiki branch calls for all historic places to be marked on land titles, and for the act to be reviewed so that landowners should not pay costs incurred by the Historic Places Trust. The province’s field officer, Mr Christopher Cooper, said that there had been cases of farmers finding a possible historic site, and calling in the trust. “Then they receive the • bill for the air fare, accommodation, and travel costs

for the officer,” he said. The trust had also stopped farmers developing land for horticulture because an important site was discovered. The provincial president, Mr lan Noble, said that if an area of historic value were found, the property should be bought by the State. “It is a little unfair to ask a farmer to bear the cost of maintaining a site when it may make his land unworkable,” he said.