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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA
actually a public resource: they should be both productive and beautiful – which is hardly the reality for
much of this country. Consequently, I suspect that
many people want their rural surrounds to support
the idea that they live in the most beautiful country
in the world, and they ultimately support the idea of
rural amenity and character as a means of protecting part of a shared heritage that is presented to the
world at large.
7. Rural residential and countryside living zones
are rural zones and statutory provisions usually
require the maintenance of rural character values,
despite lots being so small as to be unproductive.
Is the maintenance of rural character as defined
achievable and if so, what are the sort of attributes
that characterize rural residential development that
maintain rural character values? Are they universal
or context specific? When does a rural residential
landscape become urban?
To be blunt, much of rural New Zealand is a quasi-industrial wasteland that is highly productive, but
largely devoid of environmental value. My recent trip
to a farm in the southern North Island that involved
crossing a stream occupied by thousands of metres of
fencing wire, an old shed, and two dead cows did little
to disabuse me of this perception. Hardly surprising,
therefore, that some members of our profession have
long promoted the idea that rural-residential development – traded off against revegetation and envi-
ronmental enhancement – can help to revitalize and
sustain the country’s natural heritage. However, my
many battles on this point have been primarily over
the location and intensity of such development, and
its effects on rural character.
For a start, the protection of rural character is not,
in my opinion, viable once lots become much smaller
than 4-5has; and even at this level, too much development will inevitably have a significant cumulative
effect. Large parts of the (former) Franklin and
Rodney Districts in the Auckland region afford graphic
examples of this. In other parts of New Zealand – for
example across the expanse of the Mackenzie Basin
– lots of even this size would have a disastrous effect
on the vast, open spaces, long views and dark night
skies that the area is renowned for. So, yes, the effects
of rural-residential development can be very context
specific. In my view, any provision for such development needs to be carefully considered: rural-residential development has the potential to deliver positive
environmental outcomes, but those outcomes cannot be divorced from other effects – both direct and
cumulative – on wider amenity values and the rural
sector at large.
The NZILA is working with MFE, DOC, MPI and LGNZ to review best
practice methodology of landscape assessment. This is likely to involve a series of workshops across the country in 2017 to develop
a detailed assessment methodology, along with the preparation of
concise guidance on the Quality Planning website. For more information on this project, please contact Shannon Bray, NZILA President.
Gibbston Valley, near Queenstown