Hanmer Forest: The Covenanted Area

The old, convenanted area of Hanmer Forest, once proclaimed a forest recreation reserve for public recreation, is now privately owned land. Is public access at risk? Hanmer Forest needs to be maintained in the future for public enjoyment, for recreation and for education. It needs to be returned into public ownership.

Hanmer Basin – painting by Roger Keey (Click here for a larger version)

An arrangement under wraps This was the first we had heard about it, and indeed it was news to the local community and the Hurunui District Council. What seems to have happened was that these negotiations had been carried out in some secrecy, and we found out afterwards that even employees of the forest company who owned the forest assets were to keep the matter confidential. We were upset because of the nature of the area and to understand that we need to go back into the history of the forest.

The development of the forest The forest was established in the early part of the twentieth century on land that was proclaimed a thermal reserve by the former Nelson Provincial Council in the 1870s after the discovery of the thermal pools by Europeans. There was a very large area set aside and the thermal reserve still exists today, but it covers a much smaller area.

At the turn of the twentieth century there was concern about the rapid loss of New Zealand’s native forest and fear of a shortage of wood, so a Department of Forestry was established. It took over part of the thermal reserve. Hanmer was chosen probably not because it was regarded as a particularly ideal place for growing trees but because the land was available and relatively cheap. The Hanmer basin formerly was virtually a treeless montane plain covered with kanuka scrub and flax in the wetter margins.

An experimental forest For the afforestation process the Government often used prison labour. The trees were chosen from those that flourished in central Europe in the mountain areas – trees like Corsican and Austrian pines which were thought to be able to stand up to the continental-like Hanmer climate. Amenity species such as oaks and silver birch were also planted and in the wetter marshy areas alders so that from the beginning it was a forest of mixed species. The forest gradually expanded and other species were trialled – Norway spruce, radiata and ponderosa pine – so this forest became essentially an experimental forest to illustrate what might grow under New Zealand conditions.

Now the two major plantation species are Pinus radiata and Douglas-fir. Douglas-fir likes slightly damper conditions than radiata, but it is quite an aggressive species and because of its dense canopy it tends to out-compete other species. It is also invasive, so that Douglas-fir is spreading into the pockets of Nothofagus beech – the southern beech forest, in the wetter gullies of the Hanmer Range and indeed over the tops.

Additional woody species have come uninvited The other feature of Hanmer Forest is its location adjacent to the township. Mainly by courtesy of the birds, but also by courtesy of the nor’wester, various other woody species have come in. Grand fir which was planted on Conical Hill has appeared in the forest. Rowans which were planted in the town’s gardens have turned up in the forest. Plants like holly and cotoneaster are also there. Sycamores, which were planted in the town, have spread into the forest and are one of the glories in the autumn because of the colours, with the light filtering through the forest. However, sycamore seeds spread so freely that they are often regarded as a kind of arborcultural weed in New Zealand.

The understorey in the forest depends on the type of trees growing there. Sycamore trees allow the light in for the growth of the understorey. Trees like larch, another deciduous tree, are also a glory in the forest and let more light in. Around them are areas of ivy, or cotoneaster, or indigenous coprosma. Not only does the canopy of the trees vary from place to place because of the past planting patterns, but the undergrowth complements this in many respects.

Hanmer Forest unique Hanmer Forest is unique in that it is a mixed broadleaf/coniferous evergreen forest with over fifty different woody species. There is another area planted out in 1984 – informally called the arboretum – where the NZ Forest Service did indicative planting – indicative in the sense of seeing what would grow. There are five Leyland cypresses, Lusitanica cypresses, and Macrocarpa cypresses. The forest is not a monocultural radiata forest, but more an arborcultural museum.

Once recreation reserve The forest was originally maintained by the Forest Service on Crown Forest land. The area was once proclaimed a forest recreation reserve for public recreation by the former Minister of Forests, Duncan McIntyre.

Divided control With the economic reforms, if not revolution, of the late 1980s, the Forest Assets Act of 1989 revoked the status of existing forests. This meant that areas like forest parks, where one had a balanced management between production and recreation, soil and water and conservation, were no longer in existence. Hanmer Forest was one of these forest parks, and as a result of that the old forest park was divided between the Department of Conservation which took the indigenous forest and the alpine tops, a State Owned Enterprise which was granted the production forest, while small areas like the Conical Hill Reserve and the Dog Stream Reserve were taken over by the District Council as reserves.

Sale to private companies Subsequently the State Owned Enterprise sold the forest assets to a private forest company, Carter Holt Harvey Forests, the forest assets being the trees, the roads and the buildings, under a lease arrangement. The Crown still owned the land. Then with the Treaty Settlement the state sold the land to the Ngai Tahu, to a holding company, Ngai Tahu Forest Holdings (NTFH).

Sale without prior notice or consultation with local people What upset the people in Hanmer Springs was the fact that this was done secretly and they only knew about the process by way of the newspaper article at the end when it was claimed that everything was set in stone and nothing could stop the process.

Some protection from a Crown covenant and lease agreement The old forest area was subject to a Crown covenant set up when the Forest Park was dissolved. This protected the area in terms of the forest management policies in that clear felling could not be done and four wheel drive vehicles wishing to enter the area had to receive Crown permission.

There were also adjunct provisions in the lease agreement between the Crown and the State-owned Enterprise when the forest asset was sold and this included public values such as preserving the forest backdrop and also giving the public right of access to the area subject to health and safety provisions. The forest could be closed in times of public danger such as high wind or if the area was very dry.

Sale nullifies provisions protecting public values With selling the land to Ngai Tahu Forest Holdings these extra provisions have fallen away, so that for example there is no longer any right of legal public access. What Ngai Tahu Forest Holdings have said is that if Carter Holt Harvey Forests (CHHF) were happy to allow the public to enter then they would permit CHHF to do so, but there is no automatic right of public access. Indeed if they had the decision the public would not be permitted to enter their forest lands as they have no public liability insurance for that purpose. The status of the land has changed and public access is now conditional.

Issues regarding track maintenance The next stage in the drama was that CHHF decided that it would no longer maintain the recreational tracks. Indeed there was a suggestion that if the tracks became dangerous they would be closed. The company’s attitude has now changed somewhat and is now more socially and environmentally sensitive. They are taking more interest in the forest, but they are still not willing to maintain the recreational tracks.

One-off Government grant for maintenance As a result of an approach to the Government the Hurunui District Council has been given a grant for maintenance of these tracks, but this is a one-off grant.

Public petition prompted by lack of long-term security Pending negotiations about the future ownership of the land there was a public petition signed by over 7000 people. This figure has to be compared with the resident population of 650 people. This petition asked the Government to buy back the area of the old forest, some 204 hectares, because there is a fear that there is no long-term security.

Firstly the CHHF Company has a lease only for thirty years . Secondly although there is a covenant on the land the landowner can apply to the relevant Ministers for the covenant to be removed. NTFH have not yet taken up that option. The land, being adjacent to the township, may be seen as having development potential.

NTFH are very averse to the use of the term “Heritage” in describing the forest. They argue strenuously that it is not a heritage forest. The forest was once proclaimed as a public recreation reserve and now it is privately owned land. The fact that this process was done without consultation makes it seem to us a faulty process, almost statutory theft. As if, in order to make a land settlement, something like Hagley Park in Christchurch had been handed to a private owner as recompense for some past injustice.

Why is the Hanmer Forest worth preserving? The area has significant heritage values in showing us past afforestation policies, showing what trees grow well and what trees do not. It is interesting from a scientific viewpoint because there is a mixture of deciduous and non-deciduous evergreen species and it is also interesting to see how the dynamics of the area will operate.

It is also useful as an educational resource. Adjacent to the forest there is the Forest Trust Camp which was formerly the single men’s quarters. It is run by a Trust and offers low cost accommodation for school parties, families and other groups. Recently it has had a half million dollar upgrade and one would not like to see a future where we had these facilities for outdoor education but there would be almost no opportunities for such education.

The forest has an unusual feature of being relatively wild in that it has had light management over the years, while it lies over relatively flat ground so there is ready access both in terms of its being comparatively near to Christchurch and for people of limited fitness being able to enjoy it. There are many spectacular places of wild landscape in New Zealand, but many of them can only be fully enjoyed by the healthiest and fittest of the population.

The forest is accessible to people of a wide range of ages and useful for introducing school children to aspects of outdoor education. It is really a marvellous resource for tourism, for education and for forestry awareness. It would be a tragedy if it were lost.

Public ownership important for security There is the feeling that to ensure that it can be enjoyed by succeeding generations the area should come back into public ownership in some form. When an area is in private ownership inevitably there are other issues than public values which are of concern to the owner. It is possible still to have private ownership and public values, but there is the lack of security.

As can be seen with the attitude of the leaseholder, at times it has been very supportive. At one time there was actually a staff person who had a role in maintaining the recreational facilities and the general health of the forest. There is no longer that position. CCHF went through a time when it would consider only the bottom line and environmental factors were of no concern. Now there is more concern about environmental factors, but in the space of about ten years there have been virtually three management policies in regard to the forest and again there is no long term security. Hence there is a real drive to get it back into public ownership so that the forest can be maintained in the future for public enjoyment, for recreation and for education.

Forest backdrop a valued asset for Hanmer Springs In addition to the other benefits the forest provides the forest backdrop which makes Hanmer Springs so special. To imagine what Hanmer Springs would be like without the forest one could think of the Hanmer Plain as it once was – rather dull with just tussock, kanuka and flax. It is much more biodiverse now.

Hanmer Forest in Winter – painting by Roger Keey (Click here for a larger version)

At the last local body election I was elected to the Hanmer Community Board and my specific portfolio on the Board relates to reserves and the responsibility for overseeing the improvements to the entrance to the Conical Hill reserve and a new development near Chisholm Crescent. The first stage of that development is now complete.

Stormwater holding pond made into scenic feature The development resulted from an imaginative decision of the Hurunui District Council’s Environmental Services Engineer in consultation with Fulton Hogan Ltd. It was felt that it would be desirable to have some kind of holding pond for stormwater so this holding pond or small lake is now a feature with a walking track, a boardwalk to two small islands, seating and a picnic place. What started out as a utilitarian feature will eventually become quite an attractive feature a few minutes walk from the centre of the village. It already attracts birds – paradise and mallard ducks, spur-winged plovers and welcome swallows. People of all ages are already visiting the area and it especially attracts parents and grandparents taking young children for a walk.

The new park is part of the developing walkway system in Hanmer Springs, connecting the township with the Forest, with the aim of enhancing further Hanmer Springs as a place to relax and wind down.