Coromandel Heritage Plan Hits Ministry Roadblock

BY GEOFFREY ROBINSON

Plans by Thames-Coromandel District Council to have the entire Coromandel Peninsula designated a “protected landscape” under guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have been dealt a setback by the Minister of Conservation.

Council notes released in response to an Official Information Act request reveal that TCDC Mayor Glenn Leach and Economic Development Committee Chair Brent Page were advised in a meeting with Minister Maggie Barry on September 17 “that the IUCN classification should be parked.” The international designation was the proposed centrepiece of a new Coromandel Heritage Region plan unveiled by the mayor in August.

A 54-page project feasibility report, prepared by tourism industry consultancy Miles Destinations, had also proposed a short list of “signature conservation projects”, including creation of new marine reserves in every coastal community. According to the meeting notes, Minister Barry “raised the recreational fishing component of the heritage region proposal and suggested putting the issue of marine protected areas aside given the often contentious nature of implementing these at a local level.”

Mayor Leach and Page had traveled to Wellington seeking ministerial support for their “heritage region” proposal just one day after TCDC councillors approved further investigation of the plan.

Other released emails reveal that DOC’s national manager of strategic partnerships had warned in May that the IUCN proposal was probably inappropriate. DOC’s Andrew Bignell questioned “the motivations for going down the [IUCN] track” and whether the project’s supporters were seeking to achieve conservation goals or a “tourism marketing point of difference.”

Senior TCDC policy staff, the documents reveal, had also expressed reservations about pursuing IUCN protections as part of the council’s heritage project.

On September 30, Waikato Regional Council voted not to support in principle the TCDC Heritage Region proposal. The plan also encountered opposition from district residents concerned with the potential for loss of local democratic control and the likely costs and burdens resulting from a new layer of administration and an offshore-based regulatory framework to manage the district

TCDC staff is currently working on a revised project definition for the council’s “heritage region” project.

Geoffrey Robinson is a Coromandel-based career journalist and commentator on local government and environment issues.

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