Mapp Wayne: Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill — Procedure Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Mapp Wayne: Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill — Procedure Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6212] 
Hon Dr WAYNE MAPP (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 I want to deal with the issue that has been raised by Mr Phil Twyford and with the misinformation he is spreading. He is spreading simple propaganda. I say that because he quoted an example—and I was listening carefully—of a 400-year-old puriri. The concern was that the tree would not be protected. Well I suggest to Mr Twyford that he read the bill carefully and think of the obligations that rest upon the various councils up until next year and upon the Auckland Council thereafter. 
It is inconceivable I suggest that a 400-year-old puriri would not be designated by a council because that will effectively be the obligation of councils from hereafter. Certainly there are blanket rules at the moment but there will be new rules following the passage of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill. We on this side of the Chamber have a reasonable expectation and I know that the Minister of Conservation will be writing to councils and setting out the expectations of the Government in terms of the responsibilities of councils to designate firstly individual trees of special importance—and a 400-year-old puriri clearly fits into that category—and secondly groups of trees. 
I will deal with the second issue as well because I think it gets to the heart of the concerns of the people who have written to me and indeed of other members of the Committee. As I understand it from both reading the report of the Local Government and Environment Committee and talking to the Minister councils will have the power to designate discrete areas particularly on the coastal fringes which are common throughout much of Auckland particularly around the North Shore where there are pohutukawa puriri karaka and other native trees. 
Without question the coastal fringe is hugely valuable to our community and much of it is in private hands. The groups of trees will be able to be designated by councils. That is actually what landowners in those areas will expect to be the case. They will of course also expect to be able to appropriately prune and trim those trees. So I suggest to the Opposition members that their scaremongering has been fundamentally misleading because there are ample powers on the part of the seven councils currently and the single council that will exist from September next year to designate the important trees and significantly the groups of trees that represent ecosystems. 
I have taken a particular interest in this issue because I am the member for North Shore and because I happen to live on the coastal fringe. I understand the significance of these issues and I know the feelings of the communities. I suggest to members of the Committee and indeed more broadly to the community that there are ample powers in legislation for councils to act responsibly and to ensure the protection of unique heritage trees which are usually native trees and more significantly ecosystem areas that are covered by the concept of “groups of trees”. 
It is also important to recollect that we are talking about privately owned land so reserves council-owned lands and land owned by the Department of Conservation are all fully protected. That is not the issue in question yet many people are of the contrary view. It is my view that councils acting constructively using the powers of this legislation and with the encouragement of the Minister of Conservation will over the next 2 years before the provision comes fully into effect—because that is the final point—ensure that they take up the responsibility to protect the heritage that we in Auckland expect to be protected.