Lawrence Yule Radiospot, Newstalk ZB, 4 April 2006

Next Tuesday the Hastings District Council will receive the final Charrette report for Ocean Beach. This report will be considered along with a number of options for further public consultation. The first major chance for the public to express their views will be at the ‘Shaping our District’ Expo which will be held at the Hastings Sports Centre on the 21 and 22 April.

It is quite clear that there are two major public issues surrounding Ocean Beach. Firstly there is the number of houses that will finally be allowed, and secondly the obvious need to provide long-term protection against development at the northern end of the beach.

The Council has always been determined to find a long term planning solution for the beach which cannot easily be overturned or changed. The northern wilderness part of beach is very special and I am personally committed to its protection.

It is for these reasons that I have visited Conservation Minister Chris Carter to see at the highest level what the options are for protection. These range from QEII covenants, Department of Conservation covenants, outright purchase of this area of coastline by local and central government and the passing of a local bill in Parliament to ban further development. All these options require the agreement of landowners involved but at this stage they are all sympathetic to the aims.

The first two covenant options simply place protection on the landowner’s titles and often place restrictions not only on building, but on land use as well. This is probably the least favoured by the landowners because it could dramatically affect their ability to farm these areas.

The option of outright purchase is also very challenging. It was quite clear from the government that the conservation issues that need protecting at this beach would have to be weighed up with other national issues. The chance of any government funding towards this appears slim. The value of this land also runs into millions of dollars and the financial cost to ratepayers without government assist is in my view unaffordable.

This brings me to the last option, which involves a locally sponsored bill through parliament which would ban housing and development for ever. Such a bill could not be overturned without the majority of 120 MPs agreeing to it. While this may not be a ‘traditional’ approach, it is perfectly possible and would give the highest level of protection available in New Zealand. It would be my hope that if the landowners and community agree with approach then we could also get political support form all our local MPs regardless of their political affiliations.

This Local Bill solution may end up being more difficult that I imagine, but one thing I do know is that landowners change, Councils and planning rules change. Ocean beach will, however, always be here and the opportunity of offering it the highest protection in the land has real appeal.

Those are my thoughts for the week.

I’m Lawrence Yule.

Lawrence Yule Radiospot, Newstalk ZB, 16 March 2006


Well, Ocean Beach has certainly dominated the media from the beginning of this week. Some of the coverage has been very biased and a lot has been blatantly untrue. And all this has been stirred up by the Future Ocean Beach group who claim to represent the future for our special beach.

Last Saturday I hosted a public meeting in the Hawke’s Bay Opera House where we explained all the issues around Ocean Beach and the process ahead to try and resolve them. In front of 450 people, my staff and I answered questions and listened to views on this emotionally charged subject. We did so in an honest and open way and I am prepared to hold more of these meetings if required.

I was therefore surprised to be advised late on Sunday night that Future Ocean Beach had a "leaked" document they claimed clearly identified some sort of deal between the Council and a developer. I did some research on Sunday night only to find that the document being referred to was not in fact leaked, but had been obtained under the Official Information Act. It was an agreement between the Council and Tennyson OB dated 2003, which granted the Council an extra 1.0 hectare of land to the reserve area at Ocean Beach in exchange for the Council processing a plan change. The agreement was subject to the Council obtaining road access which to this day has not been achieved. I agreed to a TV interview on Monday morning, and the rest you will all be aware of.

The content and the angle of the Close Up story was far removed from reality and made all sorts of untrue allegations and claims.

The Hastings District Council has been working hard for ten years to achieve two things for the people of Hawke’s Bay. The first is to secure a legal road access to the beach and the Surf club. The current access is due to the generosity of the estate of Pukepuke Tangiora.

The second is to try and extend the Council reserve, which is not large enough for all the people that use the beach in the height of summer. I consider these aims to be exactly what the people of the region expect us to secure and I make no apologies for doing so.

After 10 years of negotiating with several parties, the Council signed an agreement with a new landowner to advance these valid aims. Tennyson OB received nothing for their 1.0 hectares of land except the opportunity to have a 42-house plan change considered by independent commissioners. Regardless of the outcome of this process, if the Council could achieve road access the community would receive 1.0 hectares of reserve space.

After being unable to achieve road access, the Council and all the land owners decided to undertake a Charrette process which started from a blank piece of paper to see if there was a better way of resolving all the issues at the beach. This is where we are today. I am excited that the Charette process and Plan change will finally resolve many of the issues. I am also completely confident about the integrity of the all the Council actions over the past 10 years.

Burying our collective heads in the sand as some would propose will certainly not result in public road access, extra reserve and conservation space, let alone set out a comprehensive planning framework for the whole of the coastline. This is what I am committed to achieving. It is what I believe most people want.

I’m Lawrence Yule.

Mayoral Column published in the Havelock North Village Press
December 2005

The charrette planning process at Ocean Beach is certainly a topic of hot conversation right now. Many people are making comments to me about it in passing which is a good sign for council because it means they’re taking an interest in our consultation process and will actively participate down the track.

The Hastings District Council has a statutory role to play in developing land use rules that cover the district. This includes Ocean Beach.

The charrette process is simply a way of getting all the issues and ideas in one place at one time so some sort of plan can be developed. The land in question is all privately owned apart from the small section of Council-owned land around the existing surf club area.

Council acknowledges Ocean Beach is a special place and wants to ensure there is a collective approach to managing the area’s natural assets. It also wants to ensure that public access remains. Development rights already exist on this land but council has been quite open from the outset that it does not want to see ad hoc development along that coastline for years to come.

Landowners acknowledge council’s aspirations and I think must be given credit for opening themselves up to a very public process which is bound to be an emotional journey for all involved.

It is also important to restate that the charrette does not have any legal status and may be modified at any time until a formal decision is given by the Council to advance a plan change. Such a decision will not occur until November 2006.

It is quite clear from the public participation both at, and following the charrette, that people regard this part of our coast as priceless. Its natural beauty and wilderness values would be hard to match anywhere. But we must not forget why we hold such strong emotional ties with this piece of land. Our enjoyment at Ocean Beach has stemmed from the goodwill of landowners (namely Estate Pukepuke Tangiora) who have allowed us access down the steep road and over their property in order to get to the beach for centuries. As Mayor of your district, I acknowledge and thank Estate Pukepuke Tangiora for this goodwill. Without it, we wouldn’t have had this wonderful beach to enjoy with our families and friends in the first place.

There are many significant issues which will need to be addressed as we move through the district plan change process. It is my personal wish that Council consider a planning timeframe of 50-100 years in its deliberations.

Most people quite clearly want the northern part of the beach protected by conversation in the long term. The sand dunes are significant to the beach yet most are also unaware that they are on private land. It is also obvious that some people are questioning the possible scale of development at the southern end. Mixed into all of this we have a very popular beach with a number of illegal baches, uncontrolled vehicle access which is damaging the sand dunes and a beach with no legal road access.

The next twelve months will see the future of Ocean Beach discussed and debated like never before.

I am aware of groups being formed to lobby and influence the council. I encourage such groups as part of our democracy. I also encourage people who know little about the charrette to visit our website at www.hastingsdc.govt.nz or collect some information from their local district library. Similarly, if you have a comment to make about the proposed draft master conservation and development plan, then please email your comments to oceanbeach@hdc.govt.nz or post them to Ocean Beach Comment, C/- Hastings District Council, Private Bag 9002, Hastings.

Finally, this is my last column for the year so I wish you all a very merry Christmas. If you are visiting one of our wonderful beaches over the festive period, please try and refrain from driving onto the sand dunes and remember to be a tidy Kiwi and take your rubbish with you.

- Lawrence Yule