Conditional use plan for Mt Herbert forestry

Press, 14 October 1989, Page 13

Conditional use plan for Mt Herbert forestry

By ANABRIGHT HAY Proposed forestry provisions in the Mt Herbert County District Scheme will be changed to make large-scale forestry a conditional use throughout the county. Sixteen objections and 49 cross objections to the forestry provisions in the review of the District Scheme were heard recently at the Governor’s Bay Community Centre. The council’s chairman, Mr David Collins, said the forestry provisions were the most complex and contentious section in the proposed scheme.

Conditional-use applications were generally viewed as appropriate uses by councils, but also needed to be looked at individually, he said.

The decision to make large-scale forestry a conditional use reflects the concern for visual harmony but also recognises that this is a more significant concern in heavily populated and visited areas. More stringent criteria will apply in the Lyttelton Basin, particularly in higher areas, than in the Port Levy basin. The council has sought a solution that will take

account of those who want to control largescale forestry but permit small-scale forestry as of right in a larger area of the county than previously proposed.

Mr Collins said the council had sought to achieve a balance that was reasonable, consistent and enforceable and to produce provisions that are compatible with Akaroa County provisions.

The decisions are not absolute and the council will monitor the system and change the scheme if provisions are inadequate or too onerous.