June 2013 minutes - Department of Conservation

Confirmed minutes of a meeting of the Canterbury Aoraki
Conservation Board held on 14 th June 2013 at the Pavilions Hotel,
Christchurch starting at 10.30 am.
1 Karakia:
Jan Finlayson opened the meeting, noting that this meeting was the last ‘official’ meeting
for Jimmy Wallace, and inviting him to say a few words.
Jimmy read out some pieces by the poet Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus), who died aged
56 in 8BC. The poem was basically about sustainability and showed that the issues we face
today are universal.
2 Present
Board:
Department:
Others:
Jan Finlayson, Chairperson
Joseph Hullen
Neil Hamilton
Jimmy Wallace
David Matheson
Malcolm Clarbrough
Teoti Jardine
David Round (part)
Mandy Waaka‐Home (part)
Megan Hieatt (Board Support Officer CACB)
Leonie Fechney (Acting Community Support Manager, Canterbury
‐ afternoon)
Mike Cuddihy (Conservator, Canterbury – afternoon)
Tony Perrett (High Country Tenure Review Manager ‐ part)
Dave Wilkins (Tenure Review Advisor ‐ part)
Scott Bowie (Tenure Review Advisor ‐ part)
Gina Solomon, Nelson‐Marlborough Conservation Board
(morning)
David Barnes, Otago Conservation Board
Dr Jan Wright, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
(morning)
Quentin Duthie, PCE Office (morning)
Jen Miller, New Zealand Forest and Bird Society (morning)
Lesley Shand, New Zealand Forest and Bird Society (morning)
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3 Apologies
Board
Alan Grey
John Keoghan
David Round for leaving mid‐morning
Department:
Kingsley Timpson
George Hadler
Rob Young
Bryan Jenson
Ronan Grew
4 Conflicts of Interest:
No conflicts of interest were raised.
5 Confirmation of the minutes of the meeting held on Friday 12 th April
2013:
A number of minor corrections were noted:
Point 13.1 regarding Environment Canterbury meeting – add that the meeting also
discussed the disjunct between consents and planning.
Point 16, second paragraph should read “Whenua Hou princesses”, not “sea princesses”.
Recommendation:
That subject to the amendments listed above, the minutes of the meeting held on Friday 12 th
April be confirmed as a true and accurate record of that meeting.
Jan Finlayson/Mal Clarbrough / CARRIED
6 Matters arising from previous minutes:
ACTION
ACTION: Leonie Fechney to go back to the Delivery Review
team and ask how the potential Section 4 issue around
external DOC partners having no treaty relationship will be
addressed under the proposed new DOC structure, they need
to look at systems/processes and where responsibility lies.
ACTION: Jan Finlayson to write to the Minister of Conservation
about the issues raised with external DOC partners having no
statutory treaty obligations, copying to Al Morrison and NZCA.
Progress
Work in progress, still
awaiting a response.
DONE
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ACTION: Teoti Jardine/Megan Hieatt to distribute article in
latest issue of Te Karaka to the Board.
ACTION: John Keoghan to write a letter from the Board in
support of the tahr research proposal.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to send past minutes and a copy of the
Board’s letter to the Minister of Conservation with feedback on
the proposed DOC structure to Lesley Shand.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to forward Board’s letter to the Minister
of Conservation with feedback on the proposed DOC structure
to Ruth Dyson.
ACTION: David Matheson to write to Area Managers to ask
what they are doing to manage their reserves.
ACTION: Jan Finlayson to contact the other iwi members
(Mandy, Joseph, Te Awhina) and discuss place names for North
and South Islands with them.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to send NZSki.com application to full
Board.
ACTION: Board to agree on a date for November meeting and
communicate with Megan Hieatt.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to find out how much money was
journalled across and report back.
DONE
DONE
DONE
DONE
DONE
DONE
DONE
Waiting on response from
Minister’s office
Waiting on financial
report.
7 Section 4 Matters:
No Section 4 matters were raised.
8 Land Committee
8.1 Committee overview
David Round gave a brief update on the Land Committee, which he described as having
been very quiet with little activity since the April meeting.
8.2 Letter to Commissioner of Crown Lands (paper 2013/35)
Jan Finlayson gave an update on correspondence with the Commissioner of Crown Lands.
She said that it is easy to be “fobbed off”, and the response received from Jeremy Barr did
not respond to the question put to them, so a further response was needed.
The issue raised was not that the Board wanted more say in the process, rather that The
letter backed up the feeling that there is a dysjunct going on by referring to operational
matters as something they would consult the Department over through Tenure Review,
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when the Department needs to be consulted but not to an operational level. There are also
concerns that operational matters may be interfering with preliminary proposals.
David Barnes gave a brief overview on how the situation compares with Otago:
Outcomes of the process in Otago have generally been good.
There is less concern than in Canterbury/Mackenzie about lowland environments.
There are some financial concerns such as the development of freehold land at
Alpha Burn.
8.3 Letter to Canterbury Conservator and Area Managers regarding management of
drylands reserves (paper 2013/36)
David Matheson read out a letter received from Kingsley Timpson, Waimakariri Area
Manager, in response to his letter raising concerns about the management of dryland
reserves. No mention was made in the letter about any plan for the management of the
reserves, David Matheson pointed out that when the reserves were surrounded by sheep
and beef farms it was not so critical but now that the reserves have irrigation around them
things have changed. The board noted a palpable sense of frustration.
Recommendation:
That the Board endorse the actions of its Land Committee as set out in Board papers
2013/035 and 036.
(David Round left the meeting)
9 Water Committee
Teoti Jardine / Jimmy Wallace / Carried
9.1 Committee overview
Jan Finlayson and Joseph Hullen gave a brief overview of happenings on the water
committee.
Coalgate Hui
Jan attended a water hui at Coalgate, this was a mixed group including Fish and Game,
Forest and Bird, Ngai Tahu, jetboaters, kayakers, Green and Labour Party representatives.
Jan spoke at the meeting about the disjunct between consents and planning, and the water
management strategy, and others made similar comments.
Tim Wardell, a regular attendee at similar meetings, noted that the “old families” who have
farmed the larger runs in Canterbury for many years are a group to be reckoned with.
Coopers Creek
Jan has had further dealings with a local group working on a small local stream Coopers
Creek, where a resource consent has been granted which has potentially large
consequences for the waterway.
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It was noted that it appears that Environment Canterbury are reluctant to decline a resource
consent unless there are absolute grounds to do so, this is a legacy of the Linton Dairy/Te
Pirita case where the decision was overturned.
10 Planning Committee
10.1 Committee overview
Jimmy Wallace gave a brief overview of events on the planning committee. There was
nothing much to report, as with Land it has been quiet. The CMS process is continuing on in
the background, and changes to the RMA process are ongoing.
11 Concessions
11.1 Committee overview
Mal Clarbrough gave an update of the concessions committee. 20 applications have been
received by the Department this year, all guiding or heli‐hunting apart from the Mt Hutt ski
area.
A query was made about the application by Castle Hill Backcountry Lifts Limited, which
although is described as “guiding” from the name sounds like there is more to it. Jen Miller
outlined what she knew, which was that the applicants sought to site a small hut and rope
tow in the basin adjacent to Crystal Valley, and access from Porter Heights.
Action: Mal Clarbrough to contact John Blue for more information about this application.
11.2 NZSki.com application
Board comment has been sent to the Department for this application. It was noted that
there was not a lot of background in the application. The Department could get more
benefit from the concession if the location was used for more interpretation of the
conservation values than is currently there.
Recommendation:
That the Board receive Board paper 2013/037 and endorse Board paper 2013/038.
Jimmy Wallace / Joseph Hullen / Carried
12 Iwi
Concerns around the implications of the DOC restructuring on the relationship with iwi were
discussed at a meeting held at Mike Cuddihy’s home shortly after the draft review structure
was announced. Ngai Tahu should be OK in the restructure but concerns were raised for the
smaller North Island tribes such as Tuhoe and Tuwharetoa in the larger regional spread of
the Department. There was also some discussion of representation on any future reshuffle
of Boards.
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Letter to Minister of Conservation regarding impacts of Department’s structural change on
Section 4 obligations (paper 2013/39)
This letter was sent to the Minister, no response has been received. Copy of the letter to be
sent to other Boards around the country for their information.
Action: Megan Hieatt to distribute letter to other Board liason officers to be sent to Boards..
Recommendation:
That the Board endorse Board paper 2013/039
David Matheson / Mal Clarbrough / Carried
(Tony Perrett, Dave Wilkins, and Scott Bowie – DOC Tenure Review, joined the meeting)
13 Presentations
13.1 Dr Jan Wright, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Jan Finlayson introduced Dr Jan Wright and Quentin Duthie to the Board and thanked them
for coming.
Dr Wright thanked the Board for the invitation, and outlined her role. The Parliamentary
Commissioner for the Environment is a politically independent role and office, set up to
conduct investigations and write reports, and provide advice to parliamentary select
committees.
The catalyst for the visit was the letter from John Keoghan back in January 2013 (Board
paper 2013/13, tabled at February meeting) outlining the Board’s concerns with the tenure
review process. The PCE’s office published a report in April 2009 following an investigation
into tenure review, with an update report released in 2010 recording the reactions and
responses to the report and its recommendations. She noted that this report and update
were some time ago, and she had been working on other areas since that time.
As well as tenure review, she would like to update the Board on some other recent
investigations.
Tenure Review
In the 1990’s there was support for the tenure review process right across the board. The
report into tenure review was begun by Dr Wright’s predecessor, Dr Morgan Williams and
was completed by Dr Wright. The scope of the PCE investigation did not include the financial
aspects of the process, which has caused some controversy.
The letter from Dr John Keoghan on behalf of the CACB raised questions about the
outcomes of the process. This would require further investigation to answer these
questions, and the lack of outcomes is wider than the tenure review process.
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The 2009 report was received with a generally positive response, with one exception being
the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. Dr Wright expressed disappointment in the
lack of Government response and failure of Cabinet to direct officials to prepare progress
reports including both environmental gains and environmental losses as recommended in
the report.
Following this introduction there was a general discussion around the table. Some of the
main points raised include:
Concern about wide scale land re‐designation, can create isolated islands of
conservation land with no linkages.
Remember the role of other tools such as the RMA which manages everywhere
regardless of land designation, need to keep the RMA focused on protection rather
than economic issues.
Concern about getting engagement with the Commissioner of Crown Lands
Incentive for landowners to not have land identified as valuable to avoid having the
land protected by mechanisms such as QEII covenant, land is being run down and
degraded.
Use of QEII covenants as a mechanism for protection. Dr Wright concerned about
over simplistic “splitting” by altitude with high country going into conservation
estate and low country to farmer; use of covenants on areas of high value may
provide a better outcome.
The PCE is a small office with the ability only to investigate, write reports, and make
recommendations. Politicians need to be held to account to ensure that
recommendations are acted upon .There has a been a proposal in the National Party
manifesto for the past two elections for the PCE to investigate and write an updated
State of the Environment report, this would include information on the state of the
high country and identify gaps in available data.
Definitions in Crown Pastoral Land Act and in leases of “ecological sustainability” and
“good husbandry”.
More good science is needed to inform situation‐specific decision making, Dr Wright
advocated in a previous role for a high country institute at Lincoln, with monitoring
of outcomes from tenure review as one of its tasks.
Implications of the Mackenzie Agreement and the removal of the proposed Drylands
Park from the draft CMS – there needs to be pressure put on the Department for this
through the CMS process.
Following the general discussion, Tony Perrett, DOC Tenure Review Manager, gave an
update from the Department’s perspective:
DOC’s role is to provide advice to LINZ. It has a limited say and a limited veto role
regarding mechanisms such as covenants and easements for public access.
The Department is not a party to tenure review negotiations, these are between the
lessee and LINZ.
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The Department has always reserved the right to undertake cost/benefit analysis of
any proposal and walk away if a better opportunity exists to protect the same values
elsewhere.
There are more and more sophisticated tools available to assess conservation values
– databases, more advanced GIS techniques.
The Department is always mindful of the need to protect lowland values, now there
are better tools to help do this. More lowland areas are being protected.
In the Mackenzie, a large focus is on identifying and negotiating for lowland
biodiversity sites.
QEII covenants – these are uncertain times and there are mixed messages around
covenants, these confuse decision‐makers and advisors about the best way to go.
The instructions that he has from conservators are to get the best deal possible for
conservation – ie high conservation values coming to the Crown. Covenants are
weak tools and are weakly enforced.
For recommendations around grazing, his team uses the best technical advice
available, and would agree with grazing if there was a net conservation benefit.
Sometimes in order to close a deal grazing is phased out over time.
Stewardship land
The PCE office is working on a report into land classified as stewardship land under the
Conservation Act 1987. This land has the lowest level of protection of all conservation land
and was a classification added in 1987 when the Department was formed.
At that time, all lands from the parent agencies were divided up into lands for conservation,
lands for production (forestry), and the rest became stewardship land and was vested in the
Department to manage. The intention at that time was for the land to be assessed and
reclassified.
It’s important to note that although the land has the lowest level of protection, it Is not
necessarily the lands with the lowest conservation value, in fact some if it is likely to have
very high conservation values but these have not been assessed.
The important thing with stewardship land is that it is the only type of public conservation
land that can be swapped, a mechanism that was originally intended for minor boundary
changes, not the type of land swaps that are being sought and done in recent years, such as
the Crystal Valley/Lords Bush swap in Canterbury, or the proposal for the Mohikinui Gorge.
It’s also been an issue around proposals for the Denniston/Stockton area.
The issue of stewardship lands first come to Dr Wrights attention during an investigation
into mining on conservation land (Making difficult decisions: Mining the conservation estate
September 2010), and came up again during an investigation into hydroelectricity (
Hydroelectricity or wild rivers? Climate change versus natural heritage ‐ May 2012). This
second report raised clear issues with this land designation, with ecosystems such as the
Mohikinui River, which is intact from the mountains to the sea, being classified as
stewardship land.
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Stewardship land tends to be targeted by developers; if a land swap can be negotiated then
no concession is required, removing a significant hurdle to the development of lands with
conservation values.
The report will look at some case studies and the system, identifying what needs to be
changed to avoid poor decisions being made in the future.
Dr Wright finished by commenting about another aspect that came up in the Mohikinui case
– the management of riverbed within conservation lands by LINZ, and suggested that the
Board consider this when engaging with the Department over the new Canterbury
Conservation Management Strategy process.
(Mike Cuddihy and Leonie Fechney from DOC, joined the meeting after lunch)
13.2 Poma Palmer – Department of Conservation
Poma gave the Board an update of progress with the Canterbury CMS and an overview of
the next steps in the process.
The draft will be released on the 26 th of June, along with drafts for Otago and
Southland.
11 week submission period (more than statutory 40 working days), closes 13 th
September
Draft is published in two volumes, which Poma displayed, an A4 volume 1 containing
the details and A3 volume 2 containing maps. All hard copies will include a CD with
the document and additional detail maps.
A large list of organisations and individuals will be notified of the release.
Northland/Auckland/Waikato submissions have closed and issues that were
identified have been fed back into the Canterbury/Otago/Southland documents,
such as subtle changes to wording on policies, based on feedback received on the
northern documents. The Department is wanting national consistency with CMS
documents. Although there are local differences, national consistency of objectives
and policy is needed in areas such as concessions, hunting, WARO, aircraft
management and recreational zone management so that the same language and
process is used nationally.
The concerns that the Board has raised around increasing engagement – icon vs
gateway vs backcountry sites – has been reworded.
The section on Treaty of Waitangi is consistent across the three CMS’ which cover
much of the Ngai Tahu rohe.
The CMS documents will be published as a hard copy in two volumes; one containing
descriptions, objectives, and policies and one of maps (not all maps are included in
hard copy), on the DOC website as PDF with all maps including detailed maps missing
from the hard copy, and the same content as available online on a CD‐ROM. Each
hard copy set will include a CD copy.
All past and present Board members who have been involved throughout the
process from its commencement will be notified and sent a hard copy of the CMS.
Everything apart from the legislation is up for debate and discussion.
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Poma noted that the timing is not good with the implementation of the Delivery
Review taking place at the same time. He is reluctant to over commit area resources
with too many public meetings. He will be contacting key groups involved in previous
workshops such as Federated Farmers, 4WD clubs, Federated Mountain Clubs,
Forest and Bird, and the filming industry and will inform the Board of any meetings.
Poma pointed out that Board members cannot make individual submissions on the
Canterbury CMS but can on other CMS’ as then they would have a conflict of interest
situation with the rest of the process. Those who are involved in organisations that
will be making submissions need to be careful also to distance themselves from that
process within organisations, or step aside from the Board process if involved in a
submission.
There was some discussion about how this worked for Ngai Tahu members; Mike
Cuddihy clarified that if Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu was to put in a submission that the
members may be involved in some of the conversations around this. The main issue
is around the appearance and reality of “conflict of interest”. Board members are
aware of their obligations with regard to their personal management of conflicts of
interest on any matter before the Board, and in this respect the CMS is no different.
Hearing panels for the CMS will include some Board members.
Proposed dates for the rest of the process:
o February 2014‐ post‐hearing draft
o June 2014 – submission of CMS to NZCA
o December 2014 – all CMS’s approved.
It was noted that the next General Election is likely to be during this period in
November 2014.
14 Public forum
14.1 Pam Richardson
Pam gave the Board an update on goat removal on Banks Peninsula which she has been
involved. The group has removed 5000 goats and are down to the “last few”.
The success of this programme shows the importance of partnerships, working with
Environment Canterbury, the Department of Conservation, and the Banks Peninsula Trust.
She paid tribute to the work and positive relationships with Robin Smith, Wayne Beggs, and
Derek Cox and asked that thanks be passed on to them.
Pam is also co‐chair of the Akaroa Harbour Issues Working Group, which is doing a lot of
work around wastewater and keeping waste out of the harbour.
She also has an interest in the Pohatu Marine Reserve Advisory Committee and noted that
there have been no meetings held for the past three years, and was hoping for a meeting to
be held soon to update the group on marine reserve issues and what is going on.
Mike Cuddihy responded that the Department does not know anything more than the public
at the present time, the Akaroa Marine Reserve has been signed off by the Minister but
nothing else has yet happened.
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Pam is also a member of the Banks Peninsula Zone Implementation committee under the
Canterbury Water Management Strategy and gave a brief update on that group:
It’s more about water quality than concerns about irrigation and its effects on the quantity.
They work with four different runanga.
Community water supplies and their quality are a big issue, as well as supplies for fire
fighting.
Lesley Shand
Lesley noted that she was speaking personally rather than as a member of any organisation.
Stewardship land – the Department has always had bigger things to do than change land
status.
Any riverbed that is land locked by conservation lands should also be managed by DOC.
Volunteers should not replace DOC staff, they have other pressures such as financial and
family commitments and don’t have the skills and commitment that DOC staff do, to do the
long hours required.
The Board should look at Nature Heritage Fund reports for definitions of ecological
sustainability.
(Mandy Waaka‐Home joined the meeting)
15 Canterbury Conservancy Update
15.1 Delivery Review Project Update ‐ Mike Cuddihy, Conservator Canterbury
Mike Cuddihy gave an update on the Canterbury Conservancy and the Delivery Review
Project draft proposal.
Field operations review is complete, resulting in new areas for partnerships and services,
with new directors appointed to these roles. Senior DOC managers Sue Cosford (Deputy
Director General Change Management) and Kevin O’Connor (presently Deputy Director
General – Operations and appointed as D‐DG Conservation Services from September) are
travelling around the country meeting with staff and introducing the newly appointed
managers under the new structure. The meeting was held this morning at the Mahaanui
Area Office for Canterbury, Mahaanui, and Waimakariri staff.
The new structure will formally take effect on the 2 nd of September.
Conservation Services
The existing Canterbury Conservancy is now part of the Eastern South Island region for
delivery of conservation services – this covers all of Canterbury and Lewis Pass down to
Kaitangata, has added part of Otago Conservancy down the coastline.
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Andy Roberts has been appointed as the Director, Conservation Services for the Eastern
South Island region. Andy is currently Area Manager of both Southern Islands and Murihiku
Areas, which incorporates the southern part of Southland (from Porpoise and Curio Bay
around to Waitutu and north to between Kingston and Fairlight south of Lake Wakatipu),
Stewart Island and the subantarctic islands – Snares, Auckland Is, Campbell Is, Bounty Is,
Antipodes Is. This position is based in Christchurch.
Other appointments:
Director Conservation Services, North and Western South Island (Hokitika)
Mike Slater, currently Conservator, West Coast Conservancy
Director Conservation Services, Southern South Island (Invercargill)
Vacant, position advertised.
Conservation Partnerships
The Canterbury region is part of the South and Eastern South Island district. With
partnerships, the region is broken up into districts with Canterbury divided into the North
Canterbury and Mackenzie South Canterbury districts.
The Director, Conservation Partnerships for the South and Eastern South Island district, is
Barry Hanson and the role will be based in Dunedin. Barry is currently the Director, Delivery
Project and prior to this role has been the Southland Conservator and Hokitika Area
Manager.
Reporting to Barry will be Conservation Partnerships Managers. In Canterbury these
positions will be based in Christchurch and Twizel. Recruitment is under way to fill these
roles with interviews next week.
Other appointments:
Director Conservation Partnerships, North and Western South Island (Nelson)
Jan Hania, currently Acting Conservator, Bay of Plenty Conservancy
Mike Cuddihy, Conservator Canterbury, and Neil Clifton, Conservator Nelson‐Marlborough,
are both retiring from the Department. Mike’s last day is the 19 th of July and Andy Roberts
will be Acting Conservator between then and the 2 nd of September when the new structure
takes effect.
The new managers are busy with appointments processes for their staff and had their first
introduction to their staff today.
There was some discussion about the level of communication with Ngai Tahu about the
restructuring, with Ngai Tahu members expressing disappointment with the lack of
engagement from the Department about the process, as Treaty partners they feel very let
down. A formal letter to Ngai Tahu was requested.
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Mike Cuddihy explained that Al Morrison was strongly of the view that the Delivery Review
was an internal Department matter and it was the Director‐General’s choice not to consult
with external partners.
15.2 Canterbury Operations Update – Leonie Fechney
Leonie gave an update on the Canterbury Operations team:
All of the team is affected and applying for jobs.
Tier 4 manager interviews are taking place next week.
The region has been broken into smaller zones for conservation partnerships, with a
Christchurch base covering the existing Mahaanui and Waimakariri Areas and a base
in Twizel covering the existing Aoraki, Twizel, and Raukapuka Areas.
Engagement Growth Plan – the Kiwi Ranger initiative has gone national, being
managed from National Office, and a new site at Tiritiri Matangi has just been
launched.
Conservation Week is coming up in September. Sarah Mankelow is working with
Greening the Rubble on a site next to Latimer Square, where the Arches café used to
be and next to the old Conservancy building, Torrens House. The site will be
developed with a theme of family conservation activities and used as a base for
conservation week activities.
16 Update from Canterbury Conservancy Area Managers:
Reports were received from Waimakariri and Raukapuka Areas and were presented by Mike
Cuddihy.
16.1 Waimakariri Area Report
Mike Cuddihy presented the report on behalf of Kingsley Timpson.
Update from last report:
Community Relations
Medbury access concession – applicant has withdrawn request seeking access for
“dry end section of irrigation arm and wheels” to pass through part of the Medbury
scientific reserve in return for enhancing the reserve by addition of private owned
“dry land” habitat.
Lake Sumner Forest Park access – no change draft agreement in final review.
The removal process for illegal huts at Loch Katrine has resulted in 3 pending
prosecutions including arrest warrants and court hearings underway (August).
The Area office has made comment on the draft CMS for Canterbury and noted that
public interest is very high for issues about mountain biking access, St James WARO
implications and issues surrounding public and commercial opportunities in the
Waimakariri basin especially Kura Tawhiti.
Significant summer flood damage to infrastructure requiring remedial repairs is well
advanced / bridges to be replaced by spring.
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Structural earthquake assessments are under way for the Arthurs Pass Visitor
Centre.
Performance at year end 2012/13 ‐ Results are year to date.
Huts and structures
Expect year end results for huts and structures to achieve targets.
Huts (98) 83, 84.7% to standard (target 90%)
Tracks (892km) 603km 68% to standard (target 40%)
Structures (557) 518, 92 %to standard (target 95%)
Biodiversity
Achieved the planned 4 biodiversity restoration programmes
On target, 13, 892 hectares received treatment this year which will eventuate in
approximately 20,000 hectares receiving treatment. Planned on doing 3000 hectares
of pine control but will exceed 10,000 hectares due to improved methods (basal bark
spraying) and additional funding (this is included in the above total [20,000
hectares]).
50,400 hectares under sustained management for weed control is to target.
Targets achieved.
6 species of bird protected (increased security) 10 species of bird surveyed or
studied (increased knowledge)
13 species of plant protected (increased security) 14 species monitored or surveyed
(increased knowledge)
1 species of fish protected (increased security) and monitored (increased knowledge)
Canterbury mudfish.
Possum control over 6015 hectares under sustained control (Wilberforce)
After the presentation of the report, there was further discussion around the letter to
Canterbury Conservator and Area Managers regarding management of drylands reserves
with Mike Cuddihy.
Mike told the Board that there are no planning documents for reserves such as the dryland
reserves as these are incorporated into CMS documents. The annual work plans maintain
the reserve values. If monitoring showed there was a problem then resources would be
allocated in response to a demonstrated need as opposed to regular ongoing work.
There was some discussion following Mike’s comments:
There is grass right up to the fence and encroaching into the reserve, and standing in
the reserve you get sprayed by the irrigator going past.
It is the obligation of the surrounding landowners to prevent their water escaping
onto the reserve.
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Recommended that the Department get legal advice and point out to the
landowners that the adjoining block is in fact a drylands reserve and they are
obligated to prevent effects from their activities.
Recommendation: That the Department of Conservation consider writing to all neighbours
of dryland reserves, pointing out their obligations to prevent effects upon the values of the
reserve through their activities.
Jimmy Wallace / Teoti Jardine / CARRIED
16.2 Raukapuka Area Report
Mike Cuddihy presented the Raukapuka Area report on behalf of George Hadler.
Biodiversity progress
Wallaby work.
Portions of public conservation land in the Hunter Hills ( Waimate ). This is the first part of a
annual winter operation with approximately 200 wallabies destroyed to date.
Wilding pine control
Wilding conifer control carried out on public conservation land at Mt Dobson, near Fairlie
and Turtons Saddle ( lower Rakaia catchment, behind Mt Hutt )
Student work within O Tu Wharekai
Ten Aoraki Polytechnic students carried out restoration planting, predator trapping and
some wilding pine control during their annual visit to the Hakatere basin. This practical
experience contributes to the students current Environmental Course.
Visitor and Historic Asset work
Upgrading work
Acland Falls track and the adjacent Te Wanahu Flat picnic site upgrade is underway at Peel
Forest Reserve.
A new foot bridge has been installed across a tributary of the Stour river, which allows for
safe foot access between Barrosa station car park and Lake Emily ( Hakatere Conservation
Park ).
Community Relations highlights
Hakatere Heritage Committee award
Hakatere Heritage Committee were recently a regional winner of the Trustpower
Community awards. The Committee lead the Environment and Heritage section for their
ongoing commitment to the maintenance and upgrade of the Hakatere buildings.
DOCDM‐1195344 15

17 Matters of General Business
17.1 Marine Reserves update
Bryan Jenson was unable to make it to the meeting. Mike Cuddihy gave an update on
the status of Marine Reserves.
The Akaroa Marine Reserve has been approved by the Minister of Conservation. Beyond
that the Department does not have any further information about the reserve and are
also waiting for further developments.
17.2 Research proposal for Himalayan Tahr
The Board would like an update on what is happening with the research proposal.
Joseph Hullen told the Board there is an episode of a xx programme Hunting
Aotearoa with Wiki Baker and Joseph Hullen interviewing hunters.
(note the above items were discussed in the morning, before the presentation by Dr Jan
Wright)
17.3 North and South Island Place Names
Ngai Tahu members are happy with the letter sent to the NZ Geographic Board.
David Barnes (Otago CB) commented that he is on the NZ Geographic Board and
could add that any new place names would be alternate names so either could be
used, rather than a dual name as with Aoraki/Mount Cook.
17.4 Loder Cup nomination
Cards of thanks to be sent to people who wrote letters of support for the application.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to send out cards to Loder Cup letter writers.
17.5 Annual Board Report
Board generally happy with the draft Board report apart from amendments as follows:
Attendance numbers to be added.
Amend list of members by adding iwi affiliations to Ngai Tahu members as follows –
Joseph – Tuahuriri, Te Awhina – Taumutu, Teoti – Arowhenua.
Minor amendment to photo credits for Board Awards images
Final update to financial commentary once we have final position at the end of the
financial year.
Recommendation:
That subject to the amendments above the Board approve the Annual Report of the
Canterbury Aoraki Conservation Board for the 2012/13 year (Board paper 2013/44)
Jimmy Wallace / Joseph Hullen / CARRIED
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17.6 Department of Conservation restructuring
No discussion.
Recommendation: That the Board endorse Board papers 2013/40‐ 2013/43 and 2013/48.
Jan Finlayson / Jimmy Wallace / CARRIED
17.7 Board subcommittees and succession
There is presently no liaison person between the Board and the Fish and Game Central
South Island Region. David Matheson already liases with the North Canterbury region of Fish
and Game and offered to take on the liaison role for the Central South Island region as well.
Recommendation: That David Matheson become the liaison person between the CACB and
both the North Canterbury and Central South Island Fish and Game regions.
Mandy Waaka‐Home / Teoti Jardine / CARRIED
18 Correspondence
The board requested copies of the Department of Conservation Statement of Intent.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to request 12 copies of the Statement of Intent and distribute to the
Board.
.
Recommendation: That the Board received the record of inward and outward
correspondence as set out in Board Papers 2013/045 and 2013/046.
Jan Finlayson / Mandy Waaka‐Home / CARRIED
19 Administrative Matters
19.1 Financial Report
No discussion of financial report.
Recommendation: That the Board receive the financial report, as set out in
Board Paper 2013/47.
Jan Finlayson / Mal Clarbrough / CARRIED
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Recommendation: That those members of the Board who were present at the April 2013
meeting receive the April financial report, as set out in Board Paper 2013/31.
David Matheson / Mal Clarbrough / CARRIED
19.2 Venue for board meeting to be held on Friday 13 th September 2013
Correction noted – the next meeting is the 13 th of September, not the 7 th as shown in the
agenda.
It has been suggested that the September meeting become a two day meeting rather than
the normal one day meeting at that time of year, and include a trip to the southern part of
the conservancy to replace the trip that was cancelled in April 2013.
The timing of this meeting is good to introduce to new managers who are based in
Christchurch, Twizel, and Dunedin so a trip to the south Canterbury would be approximately
central.
There was some discussion of going to Aoraki/Mount Cook and staying at the Alpine Club’s
Unwin Hut but it was pointed out that given the Tekapo night sky is still a priority that this
would incur unnecessary extra travel a suggestion made that the meeting be based
completely at Tekapo.
We will try to get John Blue and Ross Laurence as speakers at the next meeting as well as
the new senior managers.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to contact Barry Hanson, Andy Roberts, John Blue and Ross Laurence
put the date in their diaries ASAP.
ACTION: Megan Hieatt to contact Night Sky Committee to organise a visit to the
observatory.
November meeting – still waiting on response regarding Minister’s availability to confirm
the date. Venue to be Christchurch. Proposed dates for meeting and Board award 8 th or 29 th
of November.
Venue suggested of the Ngai Tahu offices in Wigram for the meeting.
ACTION: Joseph Hullen to find out if Ngai Tahu venue is available for either of the proposed
dates.
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20 Public Awareness
Press release to be written for the Conservation Board Awards when nominations open.
There will be publicity from the Department around the draft CMS release.
21 Karakia
Jimmy Wallace finished the meeting with a reading from Brian Turner.
Meeting closed at 4:00pm.
Confirmed as a true and correct record of the meeting.
Jan Finlayson
Chairperson
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