Williams Andrew: Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6614. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
: 
 I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First for the Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill brought to the House by the local member Jacqui Dean and also I would commend Jacqui Dean for bringing this to the House in relation to this public land in the Waitaki district. New Zealand First also sent a representative down to Oamaru our MP Denis O’Rourke Christchurch New Zealand First list MP to look at it. Denis with a legal background and being a lawyer was able to assess it and look at the various aspects of the properties in question and advise our caucus accordingly. We are in support of the land in terms of the Palmerston Showgrounds and also the northern piece of land in Oamaru Lot 1 DP 345820 transferring across under this bill because both of those parcels of land have been proven to be in the hands of current lessees are no longer deemed to be reserves by the council and are appropriate to be passed by this bill. 
However our investigations do not fully support the information that came to the Local Government and Environment Committee in relation to Forrester Heights. New Zealand First still has grave concerns about that particular block of land and we still believe that there is sufficient community concern from many people within the community that that land rightfully perhaps while it is in dispute should continue to remain as a public reserve. There are questions over that endowment land status and questions over it having been transferred to a reserve nearly 100 years ago and how that paperwork was all transferred and signed off by the Governor-General. In a sense because that reserve has been a reserve for over 100 years back into the 1800s it is almost incumbent on this Parliament to ensure that the likes of it is preserved. 
When a community has had land like that and has come to know land like that for such a long period of time as the backdrop to the town of Oamaru and where so many people still associate it with being part of that extended connection of Lookout Point and where so many people in the community do cherish it as reserve land it is in a sense a shame that other members of the community would wish to take that away for all time and subdivide it into 5.8 hectares of subdivision and put “For Sale” signs up on sections for houses to overlook the Oamaru Harbour and also create a housing backdrop for central Oamaru itself. We have concerns because the likes of the Waitaki Ratepayers and Concerned Citizens association the Friendly Bay Society and many others in Oamaru say that it should not happen; therefore we are not convinced that it should either. 
I have been involved over a number of years in trying to acquire reserve land in many places and in going out on a huge limb to secure the likes of land at Long Bay on the North Shore the likes of the Chelsea sugar refinery park land and other land all around Auckland; also in helping the Auckland Regional Council to secure was it Rakitu Island out on the Hauraki Gulf and in trying to secure more land under the Auckland Regional Council around the Auckland region; and indeed in supporting other councils around New Zealand to secure other reserves around New Zealand to have land in public reserve in perpetuity. So it also goes against the grain for me to see such a beautiful piece of reserve land which is the backdrop to Oamaru being put up for commercial sale potentially by its council when so many other councils around New Zealand are trying to increase public reserve land for the use of our growing population. It does concern me that perhaps the priorities of the Waitaki District Council are not in accordance with a significant percentage of its population and by going through with this particular bill we could in fact be reversing the tide of what is happening so often throughout New Zealand with us trying to acquire greater green spaces for our population. 
New Zealand First will not be supporting this bill. We are sad that we are not able to support the member. We commend the member for bringing the bill to the House but at the same time when the information did come to the Local Government and Environment Committee from the likes of Barry Monks Warren Crawford and a number of others there was still a certain level of doubt. Even though the officials have said that they believe it is correct there is still a level of doubt and I think that in these instances we should still err on the side of caution and we should always give land and reserves the benefit of the doubt. The benefit of the doubt in this case will result in the council taking something like $3 million profit from this land to go towards a $10 million refurbishment of the Oamaru Opera House but money is money and once the money has gone it is gone for ever. If the land is retained—if reserve land is retained and it is kept in that reserve status and situation—it will be there for ever. That is one of the things—$3 million will quickly come and go but that reserve once it is gone will be gone for ever. 
Some concern was also expressed by the community that—and I have not been up there myself but it was mentioned to me—the views from up above and driving up to a particular lookout and other things would be affected by these houses being put there. Again the impact on the community is that it takes away what have traditionally and for more than a century been various aspects and various lookouts over Oamaru. It would be a great shame if they were taken away. 
Just in closing can I say that New Zealand First will not be supporting this and we hope that the district of Waitaki down there and the people of Waitaki can have another look at this. I think it was a great shame that “For sale” signs were put up a year or two ago for the land before this was all determined which caused huge consternation amongst many people in the community. That is not how it should have been. There was inadequate consultation. It did not go through a full robust transparent process and really I think they should go back to the people of Oamaru and of the Waitaki district. The council should really ask the people of Oamaru and the Waitaki district whether they want it to go ahead with this or whether the people want it to keep this reserve land for ever.