Goudie Sandra: Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill — Third Reading 
Goudie Sandra: Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill — Third Reading 
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SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
 on behalf of  
Anne Tolley (National—East Coast) 
: I move  
That the Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill be now read a third time 
. I would like to extend the good wishes of Anne Tolley who is unable to be with us at the moment. She deeply regrets that because she has championed this bill to its third reading in the House today. 
This bill validates the uses of Alfred Cox Park which is a centrally located park in the city of Gisborne and which was gifted to the borough of Gisborne in 1944 under a deed of trust. The uses are currently contrary to the Reserves Act 1977. Every Saturday morning a flea market is held in the grounds and an excellent i-site has been built at considerable expense as part of the Gisborne Visitor Information Centre which is an important part of Gisborne’s tourism. Gisborne has thriving tourism and is a wonderful place to visit and spend any amount of time in. I always value greatly my opportunity to visit Gisborne. It is in some of the accommodation it offers there that I have had some of my best nights’ sleep. 
I would like to mention a few things that have happened during the process of this bill. The Maori Party raised the issue of the local iwi Rongowhakaata who had not been consulted. Despite many rounds of public consultation in Gisborne prior to the bill coming to Parliament and the select committee seeking public submissions from Gisborne residents nothing was actually heard from the iwi. However the council has had discussions with iwi and has reached agreement which is an excellent outcome as part of the process of consultation. So all due credit to both the council and the iwi for coming to that conclusion. 
 Alfred Cox Park was classified as a recreation reserve in 1985 but in 1966 the council had allowed the public relations office to be replaced by the visitor information centre which I mentioned earlier. Prior to 1990 part of the land was also being used for the flea market and both of these uses according to legal opinions obtained by the council and scrutinised by Parliamentary Counsel are contrary to the Reserves Act 1977. So the Gisborne District Council is promoting this local bill which was accepted by the Clerk of the House in June 2005 after several false starts. The member Anne Tolley is absolutely delighted that it has come to fruition and that we are at this point today. Janet Mackey MP promoted the bill originally and as a newly elected electorate MP Anne Tolley is delighted to continue its progress through the House on behalf of the Gisborne District Council. 
Anne thanks the Local Government and Environment Committee for the time and effort put into the scrutiny of the bill as well as the officials who came up with some good solutions to some of the legal problems that were raised during the select committee process. So sincere thanks to all of those people who were involved. 
The committee received several submissions on the bill. The submissions from the council outlined the history of the park and the activities that have taken place. It referred to the establishment of the public relations office and its subsequent replacement with the visitor information centre. The council had consulted with the two current users of the reserve and also with members of the family of Alfred Cox. Two differing legal opinions were obtained and the solicitors for Tourism Eastland which operates the visitor information centre felt that the centre actually met the description in the deed of trust which refers to buildings for the entertainment convenience or amusement of the public or other buildings of a civic nature. It is good to be able to support some of the future visions of the area of the council and of Tourism Eastland and to have these legal matters settled so that they can move on into the future with some confidence. 
The council outlined in its submission the considerable efforts it had made quite unsuccessfully to relocate the flea market and referred to the petition to the council from 72 signatories who supported the continued existence of the flea market. That was followed by a petition from the local people in the neighbourhood who were concerned about the undesirable effects of a flea market. However anybody who attends the flea market knows that it is extremely well attended and that many many Gisborne citizens go there on a regular basis to purchase fruit and vegetables. 
There were a number of other submissions including one from a Dr Helen Papuni who supported the intent of the bill and supported the use of the land by the flea market as a tourist attraction. We all know that when one visits any area in New Zealand the flea markets are a particular highlight for many visitors and locals alike. They are a wonderful source of some great produce and showcase some of the excellent wares that the locals have to offer. I think the flea markets are a wonderful opportunity to have that experience and I know that many visitors and locals do appreciate that opportunity. 
The select committee made a couple of changes to the bill on advice from officials. The reasoning was that in order to validate the use of the park by the visitor information centre as well as the flea market the bill needed to apply to the Reserves Act in general and in whole not just as the council had suggested to the specific part that related just to the flea market. In fact the Department of Internal Affairs had suggested that it was unclear whether the bill as drafted originally would actually validate the presence of the visitor information centre. In addition the officials suggested a change to clause 5 to allow validated users to flow through to the provisions dealing with leases and licences in the future. That is a really positive way of making sure that the council Tourism Eastland and the community can actually plan for the future in regard to this area. I think that is a very very positive outcome for everybody involved. 
The Gisborne District Council representatives did not agree with those suggestions of the parliamentary officials. They did say that in their opinion the fundamental objective of the amending legislation was to validate use not to provide a designation and they felt that the officials were focusing on the designation of the reserve and that they failed to appreciate the action in 1998 of redesignating a part of the reserve as a local purpose reserve. However it did become very complicated. The important thing though is that the select committee has followed the advice of the officials. The Gisborne District Council did feel that overall it wanted the bill to proceed in order to put the validation process in place and to put an end to what has been a rather lengthy process through the House. 
National is happy to support this bill and delighted to see that our member Anne Tolley has served her community so well. We applaud her for all the efforts that she has made to support her council Tourism Eastland and the community of Gisborne.