HCC Land Grab
Am I the only one bothered by Hamilton City Council’s land grab? Yes emotive talk but that’s the way I feel about the Significant Natural Area (SNA) designation that has been placed over part of our property. If you have trees and a gully aspect it’s likely you’ve copped it too.
Check out the SNA provisions of Council’s District Plan Change #9.
The Council proposes that I can no longer manage my trees as I see fit despite having done so for close to 30 years. My trees, I sourced them, I planted them, and my time in caring for them since. Now the council has wrapped them in red tape and I can’t do anything, or practically so, without first having a resource consent from Hamilton City Council.
A stated purpose of the District Plan’s SNA provisions:
“The Act identifies the protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna as a matter of national importance. This chapter of the District Plan identifies areas of significant indigenous vegetation, biodiversity and habitats of indigenous fauna which qualify as Significant Natural Areas – these areas can be held in public and private ownership or ownership may be split.”
Which is all very well but over the 2 to 3 decades of living in Hamilton all I’ve seen is enhancement of gully vegetation, so why do we do we now need red tape to achieve what’s been happening anyway?
Another statement in the “Purpose” rubs salt into the wound.
“The costs of protecting areas and habitats are local and often specific to an individual, yet the benefits may be local, regional and national.”
So all this cost of getting consultants to survey for bat habitat and prepare resource consent applications and planting plans and management plans should be borne by the community as a whole. But no, the boffins involved side step the reality of the cost imposed by this red tape.
Like many things that are young, little plants are easy to adore and give you a warm sense of having done well by the environment. But they grow up shutting out the sun and block roof gutters with leaf litter. You now need an expensive planning consent before solving such problems.
It’s all just more cost and bureaucracy to contend with.
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
-
61.5% Summer
-
36.8% Winter
-
1.7% Other - I'll share below
Loading…
