Woods Megan: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Woods Megan: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 June 2012. Volume:680;Page:2963. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram) 
: 
 I am happy to take a call on the Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill. I want to acknowledge the local member Gerry Brownlee for bringing this to the House. I also want to acknowledge the Riccarton Bush trustees for their work who along with the Christchurch City Council legal services unit did much work in preparing the bill that we are examining now. As the member opposite has indicated Riccarton Bush is in the Ilam electorate; it is not in the Wigram electorate. But it is only a few metres over the boundary. I observe that I can see it from my window.  
This bill tidies up the 1947 Riccarton Bush Act and the governance arrangements that were put in place for the board for the Riccarton Bush trustees. It better defines their functions to provide for the continuation of the very good work they have been doing and it enhances what they can do in preserving this. Labour will support this bill to go to the Local Government and Environment Committee. We believe this is based on good consultation. The board has been very involved in putting together this piece of work local people have been consulted and a number of Christchurch people have had their input.  
We think it is really important that as Cantabrians confront their future we preserve our past. Riccarton Bush and the land and buildings that are there are an important part of that past. We think that our heritage and preserving our heritage in our city is important and we would like to see some of those heritage buildings left standing. I will just indulge the historian in me for a few moments and get on the record some of the important history of this site. Riccarton Bush is an incredibly important part of our natural history. It is part of a protected remnant of bush that we once saw all over the Canterbury Plains. The species and the plants that we see growing there were once what much of the plains looked like. It is now as the member bringing this bill to the House has noted protected with a predator fence and we are seeing some important work in terms of biodiversity in the Canterbury area taking place in this area.  
This was a site that was also important to Ngai Tahu. This was an important mahinga kai site and it was also an important timber site for the iwi. It was from the bush that much of the carving and waka were produced and it was also an important place for gathering pigeons and an important food source site.  
I also note that Riccarton Bush was perhaps one of the first rewrapped and given back Christmas presents in Canterbury. The Deans actually signed their deal to buy the land with the agents of the Canterbury Association on Christmas Day in 1848. They promptly gave half the bush over to the emerging settlement to be used as a source of timber in building the city. This is something that I think resonates with many of us in Christchurch at the moment thinking about building and rebuilding as we go about recreating a city. We had some settlers who had the foresight to think that their civic mind actually was to contribute to the city that was growing up around them. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: We’re not going to cut down the other half. 
Dr MEGAN WOODS 
: Well actually I do note that by 1851 all of that timber had gone; the settlers had used all of it. The Deans on the other hand were exemplars of what we need to do in terms of preserving this bush. Theirs has actually survived. They used only timber that fell down and they adopted what was very much a conservation model in terms of their own stand of trees that they were looking after. Much of the timber was used to build Homebush. That is just some of the history of the site.  
The board when it was looking at the legislation that was needed to enhance the governance of this area of land identified a number of areas that needed tidying up. It said that the new legislation would make amendments to the Act rather than repeal the Act that was in place. It elected to pass this amending piece of legislation because it wanted the original Act to actually stand as a historical document itself. But it said that the amendments needed to reflect the shape of local government as it is now and the financial planning that happens in local government as it is now. It needed to update the statutory functions of the board and it wanted to require the board to adopt a management plan much like a management plan that would happen under the Reserves Act because of course this is governed by its own Act of Parliament. But one of the significant drivers for the board in seeking these amendments was the low level of statutory levy that was payable by the local councils. What was happening in reality was that much of their funding was actually topped up by additional grants.  
Labour welcomes this tidying-up particularly around this funding and we welcome this particularly in light of the local government reforms that are currently going through this House. Who knows whether Riccarton Bush would be a core service under the local government reforms? This Act gives this incredibly important historical site within our city protections and gives its funding some certainty and some protections. There is a bit of a yes/no/maybe game going on with what will be regarded as a core service. V8 Supercars races? No. Garden shows? Yes. Who knows when it comes to Riccarton Bush? The kiwis in the bush—who knows whether they would be seen as a core service? 
 We are very happy to see this go to a select committee as I noted at the beginning of my speech. We think that it has had good local public consultation but we think the opportunity for more public input would be good. We welcome many of the provisions that are in the bill. I want to point especially to the statutory protection that expressly preserves the right of free public entry to Riccarton Bush and the lands vested in the board. I would like to congratulate the people who have put together this bill on having that provision in there. That is something to be acknowledged and to be congratulated.  
I also note that the bill authorises the board to own and to acquire other lands for purchase or that are gifted to it. At the select committee consideration what I would like to see considered and what we would like to see considered is whether there could be protections against the sale of this asset. I do note that this bill was put together 4 or 5 years ago at a time when the people putting it together would not have imagined the pressure that would be brought to bear on Christchurch City to sell off its assets. I do note that it is the very member who has brought this bill to the House who is putting that pressure on Christchurch City to sell its assets. So we would like to use the opportunity of a select committee to see whether there is a good opportunity to protect this most valuable asset for the people of Christchurch for ever. I did note with some relief that the member did note that there was not much monetary value in Riccarton Bush so it has obviously gone through his thinking process. But we would like to see this preserved for ever for the people of Christchurch and not put at risk. That is something a select committee could examine to strengthen an already very strong bill that is going to do much to make sure that Riccarton Bush is at the heart of a recreated Christchurch and is there for generations more Christchurch people to enjoy. Thank you.