Sage Eugenie: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sage Eugenie: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 October 2012. Volume:684;Page:5929. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
EUGENIE SAGE (Green) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a short call on the Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill which as other speakers have noted amends the Riccarton Bush Act 1914 the Riccarton Bush Amendment Act 1947 and the Riccarton Bush Amendment Act 1949. I join with other speakers in congratulating the member for Ilam the Hon Gerry Brownlee on bringing the bill to the House and also on his interesting explanation of the history of Deans Bush. 
The Green MPs’ office is just along the road from Deans Bush. It is a very attractive part of Christchurch. It has got a very nice cycle route through it to the university. The remnant kahikatea forest and the work that has been done there in putting a predator-proof fence around the forest to sustain its biodiversity values and to allow for the introduction of skinks and other fauna so that they are safe from predators have been really important in providing such a fundamental natural asset in the heart of the city. Also because of the buildings there—Riccarton House which is an Edwardian-Victorian wooden building and is a category I heritage building and Deans Cottage which is also one of the oldest wooden buildings in Canterbury—it has got significant heritage values. As Dr Megan Woods alluded to it is very unfortunate that we are not treating some of our other heritage buildings in Christchurch with the respect that we are giving to Riccarton House and Deans Cottage. They similarly have that significance by being listed in the city plan and they deserve to be treated as more than old dungers.  
Coming back to the bill we certainly support the bill. The area was given in 1914 to the Mayor of Christchurch as the representative of Canterbury people. The trust organisation is a council-controlled organisation. Six of its nine trustees are appointed by the Christchurch City Council. Given that the trust has had quite substantial funding assistance from the city council particularly to renovate and refurbish Riccarton House in the 1990s what will the local government changes that this Government is introducing mean for the future care and protection of Riccarton House Deans Cottage and these surrounds and grounds? With the changes to the Local Government Act and the deletion of the four well-beings—social economic environmental and cultural—as the purpose of local government and their replacement with a much more restrictive purpose which limits local authorities to meeting the needs of their communities for “local infrastructure local public services and performance of regulatory functions.” will Riccarton House and Riccarton Bush still qualify for that funding assistance from the city council? Given that organisations like Westfield have challenged the city council in submissions on the long-term plan for funding that goes towards social housing in the city will we see other organisations challenging the city council’s funding for Riccarton Bush and Riccarton House with the changed purpose in the Local Government Act?  
This bill is a good one but it is potentially affected by other legislation. It is a good bill because it better defines the trust board’s functions and it improves its financial reporting and its administration by requiring a financial plan. It certainly makes sense to do this given the important assets that the board is charged with caring for. New section 14 in clause 7 of the bill updates the existing legislation and will allow the board to charge the public for services such as the guided tours around the kahikatea forest remnant but not for entry to that.  
The bill also allows the board to grant a lease or a licence over all or part of Riccarton Bush and Riccarton House and when Riccarton House is refurbished again and the cafe becomes operative again that is the sort of lease and licensing that the bill envisages. The Local Government and Environment Committee recommended amending clause 21 so that the terms of any lease or licence that the board grants must reflect the protection and conservation responsibilities that the board is charged with and must recognise and protect that right of free access.  
As others have alluded to certainly there was the suggestion which the Green Party made in a first reading speech that the four pieces of legislation be consolidated into one. That would make it more readable and it would modernise it but that was not legally possible because the notice of the bill was of a certain scope and that would have gone beyond the scope of that notice. It was also not the wish of the board and the trust that the legislation be merged because it preserves that sense of history by continuing as separate enactments.  
This bill is a good one. It is timely but we do have a concern about the changes to local government and to the purpose of local government and potential challenges from those who do not see funding going to the trust as being valuable. We think that the area is really important because of both the protection of the built heritage of Christchurch and the very substantial amenity values in the grounds of Riccarton House which many people enjoy on a day-to-day basis and at the market. We congratulate the trust on the work that it does to maintain these natural and built assets for the people of Christchurch and the member on bringing this bill to the House. We support it.