Anglers say Nevis valley tenure review flawed
Related Rivers
By PAUL GORMAN - The Press
Fish and Game New Zealand is targeting the Government over what it says is the misguided and runaway tenure review of a Central Otago river valley.
Lands Minister Richard Worth can expect a letter from the fishing and hunting advocacy group today outlining what it says are flaws in the tenure review proposals for the Ben Nevis and Craigroy stations beside the Nevis River.
Fish and Game Otago and the Department of Conservation are at odds over the future of the valley close to Lake Wakatipu and between the Hector and Garvie mountains and over a plan to flood part of it for hydro-power generation.
Leaseholder Pioneer Generation wants to develop a 40-megawatt power scheme by building two dams and flooding 8 kilometres of river, which Fish and Game says includes the "most valued and most accessible reach for angling", a large proportion of the historic Nevis goldfield and rare native fish and plant habitats.
In the letter, Fish and Game Otago chief executive Niall Watson said former lands minister David Parker had declined funding the tenure review proposals, awaiting more information.
"Neither DOC nor Linz [Land Information New Zealand] seem to have advised their respective ministers that this is a public issue that will heat up rapidly, leaving the ministers exposed to public criticism."
The valley had recently been identified for its high natural character values and high landscape quality and was rated as of "extreme sensitivity" in a Central Otago District Council review.
Covenants were in place to protect landscape values on the 7891 hectares of valley floor proposed for freeholding.
"But the covenants are a sham because they don't prevent the biggest and most obvious threat hydro development."
DOC's Otago conservator, Jeff Connell, hopes to be able to comment today.
The tenure proposal would leave the Crown with 11,122ha of mostly high-altitude land.
