Mokihinui land swap should be ruled out

The Minister of Conservation could save an enormous amount of time, effort, and money by ruling out any possible land exchange for the Mokihinui river valley, the Green Party said today.

The Minister was questioned in the House today about the land swap but was unable to commit to Landcare Research’s earlier finding that the Mokihinui river ecosystem was irreplaceable.

“There is no land outside the public conservation estate that could possibly offset the drowning of 300 hectares of irreplaceable river gorge habitat for kiwi, blue duck, kaka, falcons, giant land snails, native bats, and the long-finned eels that live along the Mokihinui,” said Green Party conservation spokesperson Kevin Hague.

“There is no conceivable way that Meridian could meet the statutory test for land swaps set out in section 16A of the Conservation Act. It’s now worthwhile to give Meridian, the Department of Conservation, community-based organisations like Forest and Bird and Whitewater NZ, and West Coast communities certainty over this so they know where they stand.”

“Her colleague Gerry Brownlee has gone on record saying the dam on the Mokihinui will never go ahead. Some real leadership from the Conservation Minister would save New Zealand millions by making the hugely expensive Environment Court appeals over resource consents redundant.”

Mr Hague said that the best option for power generation on the West Coast is Hydro Developments Limited’s (HDL) Stockton hydro scheme. Their scheme has already been consented and shown to have a net environmental benefit.

HDL’s consent has been appealed by Meridian and by Solid Energy — two rival companies with their own schemes that they want to advance. If HDL’s scheme proceeds then the West Coast will be self-sufficient in electricity for the foreseeable future.

“Minister Wilkinson has gone on the record saying she is committed to leaving the conservation estate in a better state than when she took it over,” said Mr Hague. “It’s hard to think of a better way to enact this vision than by adding the Mokihinui into the boundaries of Kahurangi National Park as was originally intended.”