Ellesmere report criticised

Press, 1 July 1983, Page 3

Ellesmere report criticised

Local farmers have objected strongly to a Government resource report on the Lake Ellesmere wetlands. Submissions on the report, released by the Lands and Survey Department, closed yesterday with a final count of 45. The division officer for resource management and design, Mr Keith Lewis, said yesterday that submissions had come from a crosssection of the public, local bodies, and conservation groups.

The main objections came from the Lake Settlers’ Association, which is made up of farmers round the lake who pay extra rates towards letting the lake out when levels get too high. This prevents flooding of their farms.

The president of the association, Mr M. J. Thompson, said in the sub-

mission that the report was unnecessary, as the North Canterbury Catchment Board had had a similar meeting with all interested parties in 1980.

The association was unwilling to support some proposals in the report until the outcome of a central plains irrigation scheme was known. The scheme could have a dramatic effect on the future of Lake Ellesmere, he said. Another concern was that agriculture was “conspicuous by its absence” from the report.

“We are disappointed by the narrow view presented in the report — it fails to convince the readers that the recommendations should be implemented,” said Mr Thompson. “There is a bias against the agricultural use of the

land round the lake and the report has brought in all sorts of other uses which are rare on Lake Ellesmere.”

Water ski-ing, for example, was very rare on the lake, as it was “really a bit too polluted,” said Mr Thompson.

“One should be allowed to quietly enjoy one’s property and not be constantly asked to justify one’s presence on the land we have farmed for 90 years,” said Mr Thompson. Farmers were finding it much harder to justify the status quo, he said. The report was supported by acclimatisation societies, and conservation groups.

Mr Lewis said that other farmers were generally in support, although there were reservations about the predation of crops from game birds and access to

the lake for shooters. “The public as land users definitely supported what had been written in the report,” he said. The report said that the historical viewpoint of Ellesmere wetlands as a local agricultural resource needed updating. At least 81 per cent of the area had been reclaimed during European occupation, leaving only remnant lake margins. What remained deserved protection as a wetland of prime recreational and scientific importance, it said. The submissions will be analysed by the department, and a report on them sent to the Minister of Lands, Mr Friedlander. Mr Lewis said he thought it would be at least three months before the report was finished.