Social Studies: Significant Natural Areas

Significant Natural Areas, otherwise known as SNA, are areas of land that have been identified to have a high ecological value. In other words: there are special plants and animals residing on that land. This is an initiative brought in by the Resource Management Act and implemented by the Far North District Council, with the aim to put a lid on habitat loss and land development. To do this, the FNDC (Far North District Council) is bringing in specific rules and regulations which will have a massive impact on property owners. Land owners will no longer be authorised to clear, develop or subdivide their property, unless they apply for resource consent from the council, plus an additional fee. You are allowed to plant native species within the SNA, but bringing in exotic vegetation is no longer allowed. Finally, land owners are under no obligation to introduce fencing onto their property to actively protect the SNA areas, but you are not compensated for having SNA land on your property.  

Under no obligation... Land owners can no longer develop, subdivide or clear their land without consent from the council, an extra fee, and building management- but landowners are under no obligation to protect the SNA. This new initiative removes a land owner's freedom to dictate what occurs on their land- land that is rightfully theirs, land they have already paid for. It might be argued that the FNDC is simply trying to protect the land, not take it away from people, but the rules and regulations that would be put in place should this action go ahead would restrict landowners in such a way that they essentially no longer own the land. 

Firstly, property owners own their respective areas of land- they have already paid for it, meaning that legally, they have the right to use the land as they so wish- within reason. Introducing the SNA initiative would mean that landowners must apply for a resource consent from the council before developing their land- the council then needs to approve the application, leaving the overall decision of what the owner can do with their land to the council. How can land owners be expected to cooperate with the new initiative, if it means that land they own is essentially going to be placed in the possession of the council- maybe not intentionally, but that is what will happen under the rules and regulations the action brings in. 

Secondly, the import and planting of exotic vegetation within land that is SNA is strictly prohibited without consent from the council. To put this in perspective, if a house you own is already on SNA land and you want to put a hedge in place to conceal the house slightly, you are not allowed to do this, or you must pay the council the additional fees. Again, this initiative is dictating what you can and cannot do on your property- yes, they are trying to slow habitat loss to introduced species, but they are doing it at land owners expense, they are doing it at the communities expense. This initiative is simply looking at areas of land that have native bush on them and saying, "yes that is protected," or "no you can't use that any more," etc, etc- instead of isolating the areas of land that can easily be protected, they are looking at every scrap of land in the far north, not taking into consideration: land owners, property and areas that are already covenanted. They are trying to protect all the land, when that is not realistically possible. Then there is also the question of whether they are attempting to protect the land or are doing what has been described as a "modern land grab." I believe that this initiative does not consider land and property owners in the far north, it does not consider the people of Te Tai Tokerau, and as a result is most accurately described as a modern land grab. Oh, by the way, gorse is considered SNA...  

Thirdly, you still have to pay land rates and you are not compensated for having SNA on your property. So despite the fact that you have already paid for the property, are paying land rates for land that you currently can use, you are not going to be compensated for having SNA on your land- meaning that should the action go through, that land containing SNA and will essentially be unusable by owners, who have already paid for that land with the intention of using it in some way. And land owners are still required to pay for that land that they are unable to use. So, you have to pay for land you can't use, and are not compensated for not being able to use that land. Out of the three main regulations listed above, this one strikes me as the one that causes people to describe this SNA initiative as a land grab. The FNDC is responsible for the execution of this action, but they need to take into consideration the members of the Northland community, modifying the initiative to better suit our current environment.  

Taking away people's freedom to decide removes their willingness to cooperate. Taking away people's ability to freely make a decision only makes people more strongly oppose the decision in the first place. The council is trying to protect our precious habitat and land, yes, but the way they are going about it is driving people to attack, disagree and protest the introduction of this initiative. The FNDC needs to see that completely halting the development and usage of land is not going to solve the major issue of habitat loss. I believe that our country is panicking, trying to make up for the land we have already lost to pasture and paddock, factory and farm- shutting down property owners' ability to develop their land will not solve the problem in the long run, I believe it will make it worse. We can neither continue to destroy the sparse natural habitat that remains in Northland- but neither can we completely stop the development of the forty two percent of land that has been identified as SNA. Maori or commercial land, this new SNA policy will affect both, and the people of the Northland community and the FNDC need to come to a constructive solution to help tackle the habitat issue our country is facing. 

Below is a map that shows areas of land that have been identified as SNA. Please comment if your property or areas of land you own fall under an SNA area.