Akaroa May 2006

22nd May 2006

Dear.....

Subject:   Akaroa Harbour Marine Reserve application.Invitations for submissions of objection sought.

This is a request for the submission of as many substantial objections, form letters and signatures on petition sheets as possible in the limited time available expressing opposition to the creation of the Akaroa Harbour Marine Reserve in the Dan Rogers area at the eastern entrance to the harbour and have them submitted to the address stated on the attached submission sheet by the 13th June 2006.

The following is a chronological outline of events leading to this request:

• 1990/96 .Period of mostly unsatisfactory consultation by proponents of this marine reserve in Akaroa harbour, The Akaroa Harbour Marine Protection Society (Inc), an organization formed in 1994 with stated objects that would qualify it as an approved organization to make an application under the Marine Reserves Act 1971.

• January 1996..An environmental group, the proponents referred to above, applied for this marine reserve. It was strenuously objected to by local Maori, recreational and commercial fishers and other local groups.
• January 1997.. With support of local Maori, commercial fishers and other local groups recreational fishers applied for a nearby area, Flea Bay, to be approved as a marine reserve as an alternative to the Dan Rogers application.
• 12 March 1999.Pohatu Agreement established.This provides for support for Flea Bay to be a marine reserve, to establish a Taiapure over Akaroa Harbour and for the Dan Rogers marine reserve application to not proceed until the Taiapure is created.
• July 1999 Flea Bay gazetted as a marine reserve. (Named Pohatu Reserve).
• About February 2006..DOC, Christchurch aware that further submissions may be called for.indications are that it was signaled to proponents of Marine Reserve but not to opposition parties as early as February 2006.
• 31 March 2006.Akaroa Harbour Taiapure gazetted over whole harbour but excluded this marine reserve application area meantime.
• 26 April 06..Parties to Pohatu Agreement advised that further submissions would be called for and also suggesting a meeting with Minister of Conservation.
• 6 May 2006.Request for further submissions for or against the Dan Rogers application advertised in the press locally.

Grounds for opposing Dan Rogers application:

• Not truly representative of the area;
• Does not contain features or unique life warranting specific protection;
• Will unduly interfere with recreational fishing;
• It is an area of cultural and customary significance to Maori;
• Including this area inside of & under the provisions of the recently gazetted Taiapure which surrounds it will provide protection and active local management by and with the approval of the local community;
• With the Taiapure being adjacent to the existing Pohatu Marine Reserve a totally protected reference area will be available.
• Genuine open-minded consultation did not occur before the application was lodged.
• The application by opponents to this application, recreational fishers supported by commercial fishers, local Maori community and a number of local residents' organizations, for nearby Flea Bay to be approved as a marine reserve, now gazetted and known as Pohatu marine reserve, as an alternative site instead of merely opposing the Akaroa Harbour marine reserve application should be recognized as should our support for a Taiapure over the whole harbour.
• It is against the public interests.

Explanation:

This request may seem to be irrelevant to persons remote from the actual area but the eventual result may well assist to establish a more equitable and satisfactory process for creating future marine reserves as some of the principles appear to be contained in the new proposed Marine Reserves Act currently being considered.

Having a preference for the merit of these applications being considered before approval is given we are reluctant to engage in a "numbers game". However, the applicants for this Akaroa Harbour marine reserve, who have widely circulated form letters, are forcing this and signature lists upon us in respect of the original submission process in 1996. This resulted in 95.2% (2213) of the submissions in support being of this nature, by far the greater being from people who had no connection with the area including overseas persons, even from a tourist from Estonia. These appear to have been counted as letters and are given equal value to well constructed and considered submissions from people directly concerned.  

We now have the opportunity to counter this and we ask your support in taking the time to secure & append as many signatures as possible and submit the forms by the due date, 13th June 06.   Of course, if any one wishes to submit a formal letter instead that would be most welcome as it may carry greater weight. It would be appreciated if our Club could be contacted either by email to mnrharding@xtra.co.nz or post to 'The Secretary, AHRFC (Inc), PO Box 4307, Christchurch 8001' in due course advising of the number of signatures or letters submitted. This would enable some check to be made on numbers without resorting, once again, to the Ombudsman.

This request has the support of both the NZ Recreational Fishing Council (Inc) and option4.

With Many Thanks

Yours sincerely,

Signed: R A (Bob) Meikle

Club President.

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