Touchy Nevis proposals notified

NIALL WATSON/Fish and Game Council

WET PROSPECT: The Nevis Valley, which would be flooded if power generation proposals went ahead. The proposed lake would extend well into the middle distance.

Two controversial Nevis Valley tenure review proposals have been publicly notified by Land Information New Zealand.

Pioneer Generation, owner of the Ben Nevis and Craigroy high- country stations, wants to vest more than 11,000 hectares of mostly high-country land with the Crown, and transfer about 8000ha of mostly valley floor into freehold.

The company wants freehold title to that land as part of its plans for a 40MW hydro dam scheme in the Nevis Valley, a proposal fiercely opposed by conserv-ation groups and Nevis Riverusers.

It is proposed that 10,117ha of Ben Nevis land will be vested with the Crown and 4451 freeholded, while 1000ha of Craigroy land will be vested with the Crown and 3442ha freeholded.

Crown Lands Commissioner David Gullen said any submission that discussed the possible future use of any part of the land for hydro-electric generation would not be considered during the public comment process and would be invalid.

The riverbed was Crown land and not covered by the proposed tenure review, Mr Gullen said.

Tenure review involves the reclassification of Crown lease land into Crown conservation land and freehold land, based on an assessment of "significant inherent values" and recommendations on how best to protect them.

Otago Fish and Game Council chief executive Niall Watson said while the public notification made a grim contribution to Conservation Week, it was a timely reminder that significant conservation and recreation values were threatened by the proposals.

In 2006, Fish and Game applied to amend the Kawarau Water Conservation Order, which covers the Nevis River, to recognise additional values and to prohibit dams on the river.

The conservation order hear-ing has been adjourned butwill reconvene in February.

Mr Watson said it was important that interested individuals and organisations did not confuse the tenure review process with the water conservation order hearings.

Written submissions on the tenure proposal close on November 30.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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