New Zealand Salmon Farmer Rejected Over Risk To Local Landscape
Undercurrent News, July 10, 2014
New Zealand’s Environment Court has rejected a proposed KPF Investments salmon farm on Pelorus Sounds because it could lower the value of the landscape, reports the Marlborough Express.
It also cited the opposition of a Maori neighbor, saying the cumulative effects of what could be four salmon farms in the area weighed heavily against granting consent.
The Marlborough District Council’s Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan defined the area the proposed salmon farm was in as “an area of outstanding landscape value”, including the “coastal segment”, the court’s ruling said.
Because of its position by a headland, the proposed farm would be visible from the Waitata Reach and would have a “significant adverse effect” on the natural character of the reach and Port Ligar entrance, it said.
Whether the Resource Management Act meant to include “seascape” in its coverage was unclear, the court said.
It determined that the word “landscape” was the area “seen in a glance”.
KPF Investments is owned by United Fisheries, a Christchurch-based company. United Fisheries Havelock manager Bob Nicolle said the decision was “disappointing”. The company was taking legal advice and had not decided what to do.
Read the full story http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/10246419/Salmon-farm-risk-to-local-landscape.
Previously New Zealand King Salmon had had one of its planned new farms turned down, the first to be objected to on the grounds of it being a site of outstanding natural beauty. The firm had been concerned this could set a precedent. http://www.undercurrentnews.com/2014/06/09/the-salmon-farmer-turning-customers-away-at-brussels/
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