Community environmental volunteer group, Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves in New Zealand, is campaigning for Wellington City Council to make a bid to secure the 36 hectare. Source: Stuff NZ
A million-dollar forest on the hills above Tawa is for sale, and locals are hoping Wellington ratepayers can save it from the clutch of developers.
Tenders for the area, which is marketed as a forest revenue opportunity with subdivision potential, close on February 27.
Councillors will receive a confidential briefing on a proposal to buy the forest, with a decision expected to be made at a public-excluded meeting.
Northern Ward councillors Peter Gilberd, Malcolm Sparrow and Jill Day will be urging councillors to support putting in a bid to acquire the forest.
Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves president Wayne Pincott said he understood the asking price was between NZ$1.2 million and NZ$1.5m.
“There are no guarantees they will agree to buy it but we are optimistic.”
He hoped the council would offer a fair price, but not over the odds because it was ratepayer money, he said.
Mr Pincott believed removing the trees would mean flooding risks from erosion, and sedimentation impacts.
“I think the council is better placed to get value for the community … than a developer would be able to get for the commercial value from it.”
The rural-zoned land was not suitable for higher density development and would make no significant difference to housing supply, he said.
“It’s also a key to achieving a long overdue completion of the northern reserves, which are currently under-represented in the outer green belt.”
If the council decided not to buy it, the group would consider fundraising and approaching the vendor to ask for a delay in the sale.
A walking track through the Forest of Tane, connects Tawa with the Spicer Forest Reserve and Wellington’s outer green belt, Te Araroa National Walkway, and Colonial Knob. Gilberd, who is the city scientist and natural environment portfolio leader, said Tawa bush was well-recognised as an important corridor for migrating birdlife, connecting with Zealandia, Kapiti and Mana Islands, and other major reserve areas.
About 200 Tawa residents attended a meeting where Wellington Mayor Justin Lester and councillors were asked to acquire the land.
Residents were told the city council had previously sought to buy the forest, with the intention of adding it to the Wellington Outer Green Belt and the area was listed in the council database for ‘protection’.
