Sutton's public access claims shredded by sawmill ruling

Gerry Eckhoff
Friday, 22 July 2005
Press Releases - Rural

The decision to deny resource consent for a Coromandel sawmill, largely based on public use of a nearby marginal strip, justifies ACT's stance against the imposition of such strips on private property, says ACT Rural Affairs spokesman Gerry Eckhoff.

"This ruling sends property owners a strong signal that public access to or near their land will result in protracted legal arguments in the Environment Court by occasional users of a public access strip," Mr Eckhoff said.

"Shania Twain suffered from a similar problem when the local environmental society opposed her application to build a home which would be visible from an access track she had just given for public use.

"Where are the rights of the landowner to develop a business in New Zealand? The dual impost of the RMA and public access will shut down industry, not to mention the right to build a home on your own land.

"It makes a mockery of Jim Sutton's claims that private property will not be affected by a marginal strip. A public access strip has rendered this private property worthless for industrial use.

"Yesterday's ruling should sound the death knell for any more such proposals to allow for public access to private property," Mr Eckhoff said.

ENDS

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