39
SPRING 2016
The great rural
character debate
As we seek to protect the landscapes for which
New Zealand is known, whilst acknowledging
that human activity is a fact of life, the interpretation of
words like ‘rural character’, ‘outstanding’, and ‘natural’
are an important and contentious issue.
When I was younger, I spent quite a bit of time admiring the New Zealand rural landscape from the back of
my parent’s Austin Allegro. One of the journeys that
stays strong in my memory was the forested journey
from Rotorua to Taupo. The gentle curving road cutting through the dark, dominating pine forest was, to
me, outstanding.
Now, I don’t expect an 8 year old’s vision of an
outstanding landscape is going to rock the RMA world.
But if, like me, you’ve travelled this road in recent
years, a question is begging. Today, this road is no
longer forested, but dominated by large scale dairy
operations and open views of a geothermal landscape.
Who gave ‘them’ permission to mess with my memory?
The real question, of course, is who is ‘them’ and
what rights do they have? Just because they own land,
and need to make a living from it, does this give them
the right to fundamentally change the character of a
landscape that a community loves? Don’t they have a
responsibility to protect the landscape we know (and
love) in perpetuity? Doesn’t the landscape have a community or cultural value that we all have a stake in?
Welcome to the world of rural character management. New Zealand is extensively covered by productive open spaces, and the landscapes these contribute
to not only define who we are, but also shape our
memories. Can rural landscapes be outstanding? And
if they are, does that mean we can’t change them?
Even if they’ve already been changed over time?
In this article, we have asked two senior landscape
architects to discuss these issues. Is the maintenance
of rural character values achievable, or are we destined to see it eroded by increased intensification? Is
there an ongoing kaitiakitanga role for landowners to
ensure our landscapes are more sustainable, healthy
and have high amenity?
Will our outstanding rural memories remain a reality?
Shannon Bray, NZILA President
THE WHAKAREWAREWA FOREST