Waimea Weekly
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Wednesday 1 May 2019
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Winter
Duo dominate tunnel run Page 23
Urban creep concerns raised Colin Williscroft Reporter
colin@waimeaweekly.co.nz
Productive growing land on the Waimea Plains needs to be protected at all costs, former Horticulture New Zealand president Julian Raine says. Julian, who is a director of WaiWest Horticulture, says concerns raised in the Environment Aotearoa 2019 report, recently
released by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ, are relevant on the Waimea Plains. The report provides a health check on the environment and identifies nine priority issues that need to be dealt with. The third of those is the threat urban growth is having versatile productive land surrounding regional centres such as Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury. The impact of urban spread onto the Waimea Plains should also
not be forgotten, Julian says. He acknowledges that Richmond does need to grow – but where that growth is needs to be considered carefully. It should not be on flat land currently used for food production. Areas near the hills make more sense, he says, as does building up rather than out. Single people or retired couple don’t need three or four-bedroom homes, Julian says, so building two or three storey apartments may be the way to go.
About 10 years ago Julian made a submission against housing development in the Richmond area, which was unsuccessful. He hopes more productive land will not be lost. “There is concern about future spread. There’s not a lot of flat, fertile land left. I wouldn’t want to see any more of it gobbled up.” The Tasman District and Nelson city councils are currently in the process of preparing a future development strategy and have
been holding public consultation sessions. Julian says he has been frustrated by planners in the past taking a relatively short-term view of three-to-five years, rather than 50 to 100 years, and he hopes that is not the case in the latest consultation. He says the Nelson city and Richmond areas have not always been on the same page when looking
See pAge 2
The Anzac Day service in Richmond last week was preceded by a parade from Sundial Square.
full StoRy pAge 3
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