Brownlee Gerry: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Brownlee Gerry: Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 June 2012. Volume:680;Page:2962. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) 
: 
 I move  
That the Riccarton Bush Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 It is my intention to nominate the Local Government and Environment Committee to consider the bill over the next number of months. I need to declare straight away that this piece of remnant bush and the very large house that was once the family home of the first settlers on the Plains the Deans family is in my electorate. Between 1989 and 1996 I was a member of the trust board that administers that particular property and between 1992 and 1996 I was chairman of that trust.  
This is a piece of legislation that dates back to 1914 when the Deans family decided that the last remaining remnant of native bush on the Canterbury Plains at Riccarton should be in public ownership and so they gifted it to the people of Christchurch at that time. There was a trust arrangement set up to administer all of the necessary caretaking of that bush which involved quite a large number of local authorities that existed in and around Christchurch at that time. Later in 1947 the family decided that they would exit the large house on the property which had been built progressively from 1856 through to the early 1900s and they sold the balance of the property to the Christchurch City Council the Heathcote County Council the Waimairi County Council and the Paparua County Council as well as the Borough of Riccarton which at that stage had become the trustees if you like of the property.  
I think it is fair to say that over the years the value of the bush was not as well recognised as it possibly could be. At one point it was the policy of the caretaker to in fact mow all of the undergrowth from one side of the bush to the other so that you could look beyond the tree stumps from one side of the 15 acres to the other. That is clearly not the sort of way in which the bush should be looked after. In recent years particularly with the Royal Society putting on to the trust board—and I say “recent years”; that is the last 30 to 35 years—Dr Brian Molloy the stewardship of the bush has changed considerably. It is now in a much more natural state and far more natural than it has been probably since the latter part of the 1800s. In recent years a predator fence has been put round the outside of that and that has facilitated a number of native species being able to regenerate themselves inside that particular part of Christchurch. It is one of the hidden gems of the city and it is very very valuable not for its particular monetary value but for its intrinsic value as being such an important remnant of what once covered a greater part of the Canterbury Plains.  
The house itself is interesting. It has been renovated to about the 1900 style. But if you go back to 1990 the city council at that stage was considering what its future might be. I think Denis O’Rourke the New Zealand First member was probably on the council at that time. There was a decision made that it should be subject to a management plan and that restoration should be carried out on the house. One of the quirks of the 1947 Act was that there was the ability for the participants or the trust itself to levy the contributing counties a percentage of the rate base to fund their activities. By the time we got to 1990 immediately after the amalgamation with just the one local authority now the contributor the potential for payment through the formula was quite considerable.  
The council at that stage struck what I think was a very sensible arrangement in continuing to fund its operations with a view to that funding renovating the property. A new roof was put on with Canadian shingles which was most of the original type of roof. A full sprinkler system was put inside. There was earthquake strengthening put into all of the chimneys and all of the fireplaces were kept operational although only two of them are actually used these days under current air consent policy. But the point is that having done all that work this house although it has suffered some damage has come through the recent earthquakes extremely well.  
What we see today is the trust board in conjunction with the Christchurch City Council working out what we need as a piece of legislation to guide us through the next long period of the history of the property. It does recognise I think the value that Christchurch can see in that property. I am very proud to say it is a heritage building and it will continue to be a very important part of the fabric. But it is the bush that is the true gem if you like that the bill is setting out to protect.  
I am very delighted to move this bill to its first reading today. I am sure that some of the history that goes around this particular part of Christchurch will interest the select committee as it goes about its work. It is appropriate that the bill does go to the Local Government and Environment Committee because the local government side of this is very very evident in a positive way and then the environmental protection that is afforded to the bush will be of interest to those on the committee who take that particular interest on board. I look forward to the select committee going about its deliberations in a timely manner and the bill’s return to the House and ultimate passage.