Conservation corps planning criticised

Press, 13 June 1986, Page 5

Conservation corps planning criticised

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The way the Government plans to run the proposed Conservation Corps has been criticised by the National Opposition.

The idea was potentially useful, said National’s spokesman on labour, Mr Bill Birch, but should be directed towards providing work for unemployed people, particularly young people. The suggestion was put forward by the Minister of Conservation, Mr Marshall, when he said (“The Press,” June 11) that the corps would give people with different skills the chance to work for a year at a nominal wage restoring old buildings, clearing

tracks in parks, and other tasks.

Mr Birch said people should be doing something in the community in return for getting a benefit. This was particularly true for young people. The community work they did had to be positive and rewarding, and nothing fitted that description better than the sort of conservation work envisaged for the Conservation Corps. If society believed there was a responsibility to young people for whom work might not be available immediately, the sort of work a Conservation Corps would be doing ought to be given to them as a preference, he said. National’s spokesman on the environment, Mr

Simon Upton, said the Minister’s announcement would confirm fears held by environmental groups that there was no real commitment by the Government to fund the new Department of Conservation adequately.

Facilities such as tracks, huts, walkways and the like were essential items for national parks and reserves, and were vital to the continuation of the growing interest by tourists in the environment.

He said the prospect of leaving such important work to a hope that volunteers would fill the gaps smacked of a Government that was not prepared to pay for the administration of the parks and reserves system, he said.