Dean Jacqui: Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Dean Jacqui: Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 June 2012. Volume:680;Page:2950. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki) 
: 
 I want to thank members across the House for their contributions in the first reading of the Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill and I want to thank them also for their support of this bill to go to the select committee. There were a couple of comments that were made that I will pick up perhaps in a gentle way because I think we are going to have very good scrutiny of this bill. If there is indeed a letter around that will be used as evidence to prove one way or another whether the land known as Lookout Point is reserve or endowment land then let us see it so that the select committee can consider its contents and get some advice on it. The second matter was raised by the New Zealand First member who said that there has been no public notification. Well in the course of advertising for a local bill of course there is public notification so the process has just started with this bill. Of course the chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee will be opening this bill for public consideration and submission and I look forward to—and indeed I am encouraging—many people to make submissions on this bill. 
As members around the House have acknowledged there are three matters that are raised in this bill. The first two are relatively uncontroversial. They regularise the status of two parcels of land and once this bill has passed that will be to the benefit of two families one in Palmerston at the show grounds and the other one in the north of Oamaru who are waiting for this bill to be passed through the Parliament so that that land which they in good faith thought was theirs either by ownership or by lease can now be theirs legally. Those were the first two parts of the bill. The third portion of the bill which is to do with Forrester Heights is as we have seen a little more contentious and I look forward—if indeed there is any new evidence to be brought to the select committee—to seeing that evidence so that we can give it consideration. My belief is that this provision is about correcting a historical mistake. 
Furthermore I just want to say about that third matter that what the local authority may or may not choose to do with that land is outside the scope of this bill and is also contingent on the bill in fact passing. I would also like to add that whatever the council decides to do with that land is a matter for it because that is what local government is all about. Our part through Parliament is to scrutinise and either confirm amend or reject the proposition that has been put up to us via this bill.  
I want to acknowledge Ngai Tahu I want to acknowledge the Waitaki District Council for bringing this bill to the House to council solicitor Ben Coleman who has worked on this bill and also I want to acknowledge the assistance of the Office of the Clerk which has been really helpful both to me and to the local community in bringing this bill to the House. 
Again and I am going to say it again because I think it is very important and I do hope some members of the local committee are watching or listening: please make your submissions to the Local Government and Environment Committee. I have already given my commitment to some of you that we will make it as easy as possible for you to have your point of view heard during the course of this bill. I can assure the House on behalf of the chair Nicky Wagner because it is her committee that the committee will give this bill very close and open scrutiny. So I am very pleased to commend the Waitaki District Council Reserves and Other Land Empowering Bill to the House.  
Bill read a first time. 
Bill referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee.