Nature will be the loser in unfair hearing on Plimmerton Farm development

Friday, 9 October 2020

Taupo Swamp wetland between Plimmerton and Pukerua Bay, north of Wellington, is home to 19 native bird species.

OPINION: This coming week, Porirua City Council will hold a hearing over a proposed plan change which aims to pave the way for 2000 houses to be built on the hills above Taupō Swamp, an outstanding wetland just north of Plimmerton.

As written, the plan change allows impacts such as concreting over a peat wetland, a potential carbon sink; putting a road through significant natural areas; and potentially letting tonnes of sediment enter Taupō Swamp and ultimately Porirua Harbour.

A hearing might seem like a fair way to consider the impacts. But the hearing is not going to be fair.

That’s because Porirua City Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Plimmerton Developments Ltd (PDL).

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A diverse range of plants, and native freshwater fish, in Taupo Swamp would be at risk if the Plimmerton Farm project gets the green light, says Forest & Bird.

This memorandum means council experts giving evidence at this hearing won’t be the council’s own ‘‘independent’’ experts, they’ll be experts commissioned by the developer. It commits ratepayer money to funding the plan change if it’s not to the satisfaction of PDL’s commercial interests.

The memorandum ultimately favours one hearing submitter (PDL) over everyone else, and completely compromises the council’s independence to ensure a fair hearing.

It’s already the case that almost every district plan in the Wellington region lacks adequate rules to protect areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna. The recent lawful clearance of several hectares of native bush in Newlands is testament to that.

Most councils haven’t even mapped where these areas of ecological importance are, let alone putting in measures to protect them.

What makes this so urgent, and so much of a tragedy, is how much of our wetlands we’ve already lost and how close our environment is to breaking point.

Around Wellington, we have 2.7 per cent of our wetlands left. That’s it! Taupō Swamp, the first major wetland to be protected in the Wellington region, is home to 19 native bird species such as spotless and marsh crakes; a diverse range of plants like swamp buttercup or marsh willowherb; and native freshwater fish, including longfin eels and giant kokopu. It’s a healthy and thriving ecosystem.

With so little of our natural environment left intact, we need to protect what we have. New Zealanders want policies that protect nature.

The proposed development on Plimmerton Farm is a sign of a wider problem. Councils have been busy developing much-touted Urban Growth Strategies – working out where our cities can and should expand.

But while this sounds like a sensible move, more scrutiny needs to be applied to the developments that result.

The combination of unfit-for-purpose district plans, a woeful track record of compliance monitoring, and dodgy MOUs creates a worrying cocktail of circumstances that will lead to the permanent loss of greenspace and natural habitats. The only winner here is the developer.

Amelia Geary is Forest & Bird’s regional conservation manager for Wellington.