New ‘regional Park’ Backed For Wairau River

Monday, 15 June 2020, 11:28 am
Article: Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter

A new regional park alongside the Wairau River has been backed, with a councillor saying it was "decades overdue".

The Marlborough District Council has supported suggestions for a regional park bordering the Wairau, the largest braided river in Marlborough.

The council support comes after the Marlborough Landscape Group submitted to the annual plan, asking to create a management plan for a "larger scale" sibling to Blenheim's popular Taylor River reserve, for $50,000.

The group told the council during submission hearings last week the park would protect the river's environment and history, while putting a stop to illegal rubbish tipping, tree felling and vandalism in the area.

The council approved their request at annual plan deliberations on June 8, and managed to reduce the request to $30,000, after its rivers department and the Marlborough Landscape Group "found" $20,000.

The $30,000 would be funded from forest and land reserves.

Councillor Gerald Hope said a park was "decades overdue", while councillor David Oddie said it put value on a river long hailed a resource.

"It [the Wairau River] is a major river of New Zealand and has had more money spent on it than any other [river] in New Zealand with storm and flood protection, and it should be valued a lot more than it is," he said.

Councillor Francis Maher said it was "vision" that shaped Blenheim's Taylor River into a popular reserve, and the proposal had similar vision.

"I think this can be a jewel in the crown of the province, in time," he said.

Marlborough Landscape Group co-chairman and councillor Jamie Arbuckle suggested the management plan be completed before next year's long-term plan review, so council could decide the park's future.

Marlborough Mayor John Leggett said he supported the project, but thought rivers staff had more important projects to put their time into.

His concerns were echoed by council chief executive Mark Wheeler.

"We've got a backlog of rivers projects that are really important, and we're not on top of them yet ... There's a lot of consultation needed on this. I don't believe that team has the time to do that at the moment."

Hope said waiting until rivers staff had the time could take "180 years".

Councillors agreed to grant funding, but not put down time constraints.

After the meeting, group co-ordinator Bev Doole said members were "really pleased" with the outcome. Next on their to-do list was to see what the public wanted at the park, and create a management plan.

She said the park would enhance and honour the Wairau River, and could also create jobs in weed control, track maintenance and tree planting.

The Wairau River is one of three braided waterways to have its underground hydraulics studied as part of a national investigation called the Gravel Bed Rivers Project.

The $8 million Government-funded project also included Hawkes Bay's Ngaruroro River and Canterbury's Selwyn River.

Council groundwater scientist Peter Davidson told an environment committee meeting that there had been a "small but persistent" drop in the river's water levels since 1973, well before the region's viticulture took flight.

"It's something related to a wider process; either climate change, land use changes, dams reducing gravel, river quarrying ... What we need to do is explain what's going on, because if that continues for another 50 years, some of the springs you see out the window won't be there."

Past works had focused on the surface of the river, he said.

Findings were expected to be presented in three years.

Both items were approved and referred on to the next council meeting, on June 25, when the council would adopt this year's annual plan.

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