Bach backlash

BY HAYLEY GALE

To some, they are a piece of Golden Bay heritage, a reminder of how seaside baches used to be. To others, they are a blight, squatting on public land and spoiling the view. HAYLEY GALE looks at the debate over the baches of Ligar Bay.

Follow the windy coast road from Pohara and up the hill to where a monument to Abel Tasman stands and look down to the horseshoe-shaped golden sandy beach of Ligar Bay.

On a strip of public reserve between the sea and the road stands a row of eight little cottages, mostly tucked into patches of bush, just metres from the shore.

Built in the 1940s and 50s, these unpretentious Kiwi baches, made from materials to hand, serve as a reminder of the kind of homes that people were permitted to build before the building code was introduced.

They're all different; some are built in wood and painted in bright colours, while others are made from classic galvanised iron and fibro. Many have been added to over the years and contain features such as recycled stained-glass windows or Victorian fireplaces. Their seaside gardens vary from a patch of bare lawn to dedicated vege gardens.

Two are permanent homes to local residents. Of the eight bach owners, four are local people, three are from Motueka, and one is from Christchurch.

By contrast, on the other side of the road lies one of the fastest-growing communities of Golden Bay where modern homes, kerb and channel pavements and suburban street lights have sprung up almost overnight. There are about 50 new homes and another 50 sections waiting to be built on. Permission for a further 60 sections has been granted.

In contrast, the baches sit on public land, on council road reserve and therein lies a problem. They came to be there because the landowner who gifted the coastal land to the council sometime before 1930 asked for permission to build a cottage there in 1947. This was granted, as was approval to build the others over the next six years.

In 1956, leases were drawn up covering the allotted sections and remained in effect until 1989, when they were replaced by the current 25-year licences. They expire in March 2014 when, under current thinking, they will have to be removed or demolished.

This rapidly changing area of Golden Bay has become the scene of an emotive battle as the community debates the future of the cottages. In short, should they stay or should they go?

Bach owners have just begun the fight to save their homes and the community is being consulted on the issue. The Golden Bay Community Board has conducted a survey of Ligar Bay residents and chaired a recent public meeting, attended by about 50 people.

Feelings are deeply divided.

First National real estate agent Nick Hodgkinson points out that people who have more recently bought sections and properties in Ligar Bay did so partly on the understanding that the baches would be removed in 2014.

"Most people really feel for the bach owners and there's no doubt that the cottages are in a magical location. But if these sections were on private land on the open market, they'd each be worth a million dollars," he says.

When I visit Ligar Bay to hear the owners' case, it is a glorious sunny, windless day. In the home of schoolteacher Garth Bray and his wife, Lesley, a nurse, the waves can be heard lapping gently on the shore, barely metres away. Their bach has been their permanent home for 20 years, a place they say was ideal for bringing up their three sons, who have now left the nest.

The simple home oozes character. Every room has its own style and their property has featured in New Zealand Gardener magazine.

The couple are apologetic that, it being mid-winter, the garden isn't showing its full colours, but even so, it looks beautiful, containing a plethora of flowering plants, citrus trees and pretty mosaic paving stones.

A sculpture and painting on glass by Lesley's late sister, Merrin Westerink, are displayed in the centre, surrounded by decorations of shells. A red brick path leads straight to the beach.

"We knew it was a risk when we bought it 20 years ago but we've enjoyed every moment of it," says Lesley. "We'll do whatever we can to enable us to continue living here. We'll fight tooth and nail to keep our home. It's all we've got."

She describes the old baches as "architectural treasures" and maintains that the couple are "good caretakers" of the environment and the beach.

Lesley is a member of the local coast care group that has planted natives on the shore. She believes the baches are "part of the character of Ligar Bay" and that bach owners have the support of many in the community.

Herbalist John Massey has lived in his small, two-bedroom cottage at the end of the beach for more than 20 years. Endorsing everything the Brays say, he adds: "As my only home, this is really, really important to me. I've put a lot of energy into it over the years. We want the council to give us a lease for our lifetime. Golden Bay has a lack of affordable housing so knocking down people's homes is counter-productive."

Sally and Bruce Ansley, of Christchurch, live in their bach for six months of the year.

The Ansleys feel strongly about wanting the baches to remain for good.

"All over New Zealand, baches are becoming an endangered species," says Bruce, a journalist who has written about his bach in New Zealand Listener.

He points out that historic baches are being preserved and protected in other parts of the country, such as Taylor's Mistake, near Christchurch, and near Lake Tekapo.

His home is made of galvanised iron and fibro, painted green, bright blue and yellow. It has wooden floors, recycled windows, shelves made from sawn driftwood and shells set in cement walls.

In his Listener article, Bruce described the typical Kiwi bach as "both simple and beautiful".

"These baches are living creatures. When someone thinks something is a good idea, it gets done. A veranda here, a door there, a bedroom to the left, a view for the kitchen, all made of materials to hand, because new stuff is cheating," he wrote. "There's not a plate, knife, fork, spoon, pot or lid that matches anything else."

Answering concerns expressed by some about sewage, the couple say the bach owners keep their septic tanks regularly serviced.

As to how much they pay the council for the land they occupy, the bach owners are reluctant to give specific figures, but say the "fair" licence fees are set at the average rates paid by surrounding properties plus a 20 per cent margin.

They point out, too, that many other Ligar Bay residents support their case.

One of them is retired GP Helen Kingston. "My feeling is they should stay," she says. "Having the people living there is more of a benefit to the community and the natural environment than a loss."

Not all the community feels the same way, though. Comments from the community board survey were highly polarised, with the baches being described as "historic icons of Ligar Bay" on the one hand and "squatters' hovels which need to be removed" on the other.

"What's historic and iconic about a 60-year-old building with aluminium sliding doors?" asks Motueka resident Kevin York, who owns a property in Ligar Bay on the landward side of the road. "They're sitting on a public asset. The people knew when they bought them that they'd have to get out. Their licences terminate in 2014 and the council should stick with it there's no way around it," he says.

York has given some thought to what the reserve could look like without the baches and has drawn up a three-dimensional model complete with a cycle-walkway, picnic tables and tree plantings. He says the baches compromise access to the beach, but the owners maintain there's enough room for all and plenty of access points to the beach.

Ligar Bay resident Dean Lund is at pains to point out that there is "nothing personal" about his argument that the baches should be removed when the licences expire. While the presence of the baches was no problem when the population was small, he says they should be removed when the term is up.

"It's not an `us and them' situation.

"The foreshore and the reserve is there to be used by everybody all New Zealanders and visitors not just a few Ligar Bay residents," Lund says.

The council is yet to decide on the issue.

The Nelson Mail was shown a December 2007 letter to bach owners from council property manager Jim Frater that stated: "The council will be prepared to consider a proposal for the continued occupation of the baches of Ligar Bay."

But later, the owners were told the community would be consulted before a decision was made, and that process is now under way.

Golden Bay councillor Noel Riley remembers that very similar discussions took place back in 1989 when the then Golden Bay County Council issued the current 25-year licences.

"I believe that was a pretty generous offer. It has given the owners plenty of notice to re-organise their lives," he says.

On the question of the baches' historic value, Historic Places Trust acting regional general manager Robert McClean says it is up to the community and the council to make a case for their preservation. While he agrees that baches are becoming a "disappearing species" throughout the country and that the Ligar Bay baches may well be of "local significance", this might not be enough to justify their preservation on historic grounds.

"As part of its investigations, the council should investigate whether they are of heritage value. We would get involved if it turned out that they are of national significance.

"For that, there has to be something special about them. There needs to be a `wow factor'."

- © Fairfax NZ News