The Waimea Community Dam reservoir is unlikely to be made available for public use.
This at a time when ratepayers are being asked to pay more for the dam’s construction.
Tasman District Council communications manager, Chris Choat, says there are no plans for any public access currently or in the immediate future, but adds it is part of the resource consent that public access be an option.
“The plan at this stage is to just get the dam finished and operational,” says Chris Choat.
The New Zealand Walking Access Commission says the Tasman District Council should be planning how people can get up the Lee Valley to the dam, rather than waiting until it has been built.
“Especially as more public money is sought, public benefits including access should be prioritised,” says Commission Regional Field Advisor for Te Tauihu/the Top of the South, Penny Wardle.
“I think there is a moral obligation for what will be a recreational asset to be made accessible to the public,” says Nelson Marlborough Fish and Game manager, Rhys Barrier.
“We are waiting to see whether TDC will honour their stated intention to investigate all options for the provision of public access to one of the most significant regional infrastructure assets, that Tasman ratepayers have had to partially fund,” says Rhys.
Of the land surrounding the reservoir, 9.9 hectares of Mt Richmond Forest Park is managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) which includes an easement granted to the Tasman District Council. The rest of the surrounding land is owned by five different parties including three individuals, iwi authority Ngāti Koata Trust and the Tasman Pine Forests Ltd.
“Right from the start public access was not going to be possible with so much forestry work in the area,” says landowner Mitch Irvine.
“It is our understanding that TDC may in the future look to find a way of creating public access to this asset so that it can be enjoyed by the wider community for recreational purposes, something that I believe Ngati Koata would be supportive of,” says Koata Ltd chief executive, Hemi D Toia.
Overseas Investment Office access conditions of purchase for Tasman Pine Forests Ltd include creating a public access easement up a steep spur from Lee Valley Rd – just downstream of the dam – to Lucy Creek Knob in Mt Richmond Forest Park. The company has now surveyed that access.
“The Council should now work towards creating access to the start of that route and on to the Waimea Dam,” says Penny.
Manager of MTB Trails Trust, Alan Eskrick, has raised his concern over how the legal access, which will be flooded by the reservoir, is going to be addressed.
“It is illegal under the Summary Offences Act 1981 (s22) to obstruct a legal road,,” says Alan.