Hutt Valley residents are up in arms at new ecological protection designations which the city council has placed on some private properties in the area.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Significant Natural Area designation restricts changes owners can make to their land if the property contains ecologically significant indigenous flora and fauna.
The council sent letters to about 1500 property owners earlier this year saying their land had been identified as part of a SNA and there are now fears that could devalue the properties concerned.
Affected residents have held meetings and say they have no confidence in the Council's processes.
They said there were mixed messages coming out, with the mayor saying one thing and council officers saying something else.
Eastbourne resident, Pat McShane, said people were outraged the council could impose such restrictions with no consultation.
"[They say] I bought this land because I like it. I want to build my kids a treehouse in the trees or put a hut on the land we've got and they can't do that now and they're going 'how has it come to this'?
"How is it I can buy a piece of property and almost by the stroke of a pen council can come along and say you've now got essentially a covenant that's imposing excessive restrictions?"
Another Eastbourne resident Kathryn Cretney said the aerial photos of her property which the council used to assess its vegetation were three or four years old.
She's questioning how much faith can be put in what they show, especially considering it was she who planted the shrubs in her backyard.
"The Council is saying 'we've got this ecological report, we've aerial mapped it, your backyard contains significant natural area.'
"But there no trees in that space so how effective are those maps? ... And yet they're telling us these maps are good enough to use to really understand the value of ground-based ecology - I just can't understand how that can be effective."
Ms Cretney said the designation of a property as having a Significant Natural Area had already caused a problem with at least one property sale.
"The buyer's lawyers wrote to the vendor's lawyers saying we know we've entered into this agreement but essentially we didn't know about the SNA and that impacts the buyer's ability to do what they want to on that land, so can we exit or reduce the buying price by 10 percent?
"Fortunately for the vendor, the Property and Sale Agreement [had already] been signed, but ...that's the first concrete example we've had."
The National MP Chris Bishop, who lives in the area says the Hutt City Council needs to back off and have more meaningful consultation with locals.
They could take guidance from some other councils which have already grappled with the issue, he said.
"They've taken a much more collaborative and constructive approach. They've sought to individually identify particular properties which might be affected.
"They've then reached out to individual properties on a one-by-one basis and worked with the local community to identify those areas and make sure that some sites are protected."
Lower Hutt residents have not ruled out taking legal action against the Council.
Meanwhile the Hutt City Council did not have anyone available to comment on the SNAs today.