Lament for lost rates

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 3

Lament for lost rates

Only 12 per cent of West Coast land is now rateable and productive, according to the deputy chairman of the Inangahua County Council, Mr J. R. O’Regan. He told a resource management workshop at the Local Government Association conference yesterday that local authorities on the West Coast had been assured they were the planners for the area for the next 100 years but in fact the Government had taken over the role. "The fact is that this has been a farce and we have used a lot of ratepayer money getting nowhere - 92,000 ha of productive land has been put into national reserve.” Mr O’Regan said he was saddened that none of the people affected by environmental change were represented on the Parliamentery team reviewing resource management. A member of the resource management team, Mrs. Joan Allin, said that instead of containing representatives, the team was made up of resource managers whose job was to bring together the people with experience and collate their input. The former Director-General of Lands and Survey, Mr Bing Lucas, said that although the market had a place in resource management it was necessary to protect that which was unique to New Zealand, such as natural resources and historic and cultural values.