Social Profile for Lake Forysth-Wairewa Area and Rural Banks Peninsula
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Taylor Baines & Associates Social Profile for Lake Forysth-Wairewa area and Rural Banks Peninsula Prepared by Nick Taylor, Wayne McClintock, Mike Mackay and Miria Goodwin1 June 2013 Introduction This social profile summarises the current state of the Lake Forysth-Waiwera area. The profile provides a baseline from which future water management options can be assessed. Where available, trends (over the last ten years) are described, in order to provide a picture of recent changes in the Catchment. Historical data are also referred to for a sense of longer-term trends. Where possible, information is provided about the Lake Forysth-Waiwera Catchment, the township of Little River and smaller settlements and the people who live there. However, it is not always possible to separate the area from Rural Banks Peninsula in which the Lake is located. Some information is only available for Banks Peninsula, and many essential services such as health, education, retail and other services are delivered outside the Lake Forysth-Waiwera area. Hence, while this profile includes some data for Banks Peninsula, its main focus is on the Lake Forysth- Waiwera Catchment as defined by Environment Canterbury. The profile was developed from a wide range of sources comprising published information, official statistics including the census, other documentary sources including local histories, interviews conducted in the assessment area, and discussions at public meetings and community workshops. The social profile reflects a wide range of social and cultural values present in the Catchment. These values are also the subject of complementary technical areas such as ecology, water quality and cultural assessment. It is also important to note that values vary between people and groups, and change over time as a result of current conditions. Major value areas covered in this profile include those associated with: • the productive and consumptive uses of water that provide reliable irrigation, drinking and stock water supplies, enabling people to meet social needs and gain economic livelihoods from a mix of farming systems • the people and communities of the Catchment, their identities, ways of life and historical linkages to water, and • the recreational, ecological and intrinsic values of rivers, streams, groundwater and drains, lakes, lagoons and wetlands, and the cultural and aesthetic values associated with them. Updating this social profile will continue throughout the planning process, capturing wherever possible the views of local people and aspects of the Catchment that they value, to complement the different technical analyses. Economy and employment In a rural area, such as the Lake Forysth-Waiwera Catchment, the economy drives employment, which in turn influences the size and composition of the population, its growth, and the services and community life that sustain a high level of social and economic wellbeing for residents. 1 Nick Taylor, Wayne McClintock and Mike Mackay from Taylor Baines and Associates, and Miria Goodwin from Environment Canterbury. 1 Taylor Baines & Associates The Lake Forsyth-Waiwera Catchment has an area of 109 square kilometres of which Te Roto o Wairewa/Lake Forsyth comprises 5.6 square kilometres. The area comprises 56 per cent tussock grassland, 39 per cent pasture and 5 per cent lake.2 Although regenerating native forest now covers 10 to 15 per cent of Banks Peninsula, tussock and grasslands are the most common forms of vegetation extending from the coast to the highest peaks on the hills.3 Little River Township is located at the head of Te Roto o Wairewa/Lake Forsyth. The Māori settlement at Little River was on the east bank of the Okana River which is the site of the present Māori reserve. Māori from this settlement were employed at several whaling operations on the Peninsula, and a number worked at Hugh Buchanan’s Kinloch run as shepherds, musterers and shearers.4 A Māori fishing settlement also existed at Waikakahi (Birdlings Flat) which later became the site for holiday homes around 19005. With the arrival of European settlers to Canterbury, the logging of indigenous forests on Banks Peninsula rapidly increased during the 1860s. This timber was not only used for firewood and house building, but also for public works such as railway projects. After the sawmilling boom had ended in 1880, the area of forest on Banks Peninsula had declined by 34,000 acres in 20 years. The opening of the railway from Christchurch to Little River in 1886 facilitated agricultural settlement in the vicinity of the Lake Forysth-Waiwera Catchment. Landowners cleared the ground of trees and bush often by controlled burning that created an ash layer which enhanced the fertility of the soil. 6 The conversion of indigenous forest to pasture grass was transformed by cocksfoot introduced to New Zealand from Europe.7 Most cocksfoot was grown on the northern side of the Peninsula or in the valleys near Little River which had more sun and shelter from southerly winds, while the highest proportion of forest cover remained in the bays which faced south.8 By the end of the 19th century Little River Township had a population of 380, and there were about 45 farms in the area engaged in dairying, sheep farming and seed production.9 The decline of the cocksfoot industry began about 1910 when the export of seeds became erratic, and the First World War had “a negative effect on the industry from which it never recovered”.10 Dairying and fattening of lambs became more profitable after the war, and yields from seed production were dropping, and these factors led to changes in land use.11 Dairy farming and the production of cocksfoot seed remained dominant until the 1940s, but since then sheep and beef production have provided the economic base of Banks Peninsula.12 A series of droughts and the withdrawal of farm subsidies during the 1980s affected the financial viability of many farms. Farmers diversified into other land uses such as viticulture, horticulture, wood lot forestry and tourism.13 Moreover, Banks Peninsula is a popular holiday destination, with a high 2 Davie, T. (2005). 3 “By 1900, successive waves of human occupation had reduced forest cover to approximately 1% of the original coverage. Forest regeneration this century has increased the indigenous forest cover to approximately 10% of original ground cover.” p.31 Yet the Banks Peninsula District Plan also notes later: “By the 1920s less than 1% of the original forest cover was left. By the 1990s the situation was much improved, with regenerating native forest now covering about 15% of Banks Peninsula.” p.69 Christchurch City Council (2012). 4 Ogilvie, G. (2007). pp. 227-228. 5 Ogilvie, G. (2007). p.227 6 Wood, V. and Pawson E. (2008). pp.453-456 7 Wood, V. and Pawson E. (2008). p.457 8 Wood, V. and Pawson E. (2008). pp.460-461 9 Ogilvie , G.(2007). pp.237, 246. 10 Wood, V. and Pawson E. (2008). p.461 11 Wood, V. and Pawson E. (2008). p.461 12 Christchurch City Council (2012). p.30 http://www.ccc.govt.nz/ Downloaded 9 May 2013. 13 Cloesen, U. (2007). p.30 2 Taylor Baines & Associates proportion of dwellings in the district owned by non-residents.14 Akaroa has become increasingly reliant on the tourism industry; particularly holiday home owners who now comprise over 50 per cent of the population. Most domestic day visitors to Banks Peninsula are from the Canterbury region.15 The township of Little River not only acts as a gateway to the Peninsula from Christchurch, but itself is a tourism destination, particularly in the summer season. It is the terminus of the Christchurch-Little River Rail Trail which follows the 45 kilometre route of the former railway line and is used by cyclists and other visitors to the Lake Forysth-Waiwera Catchment.16 A survey of 152 people who travelled the Rail Trail between December 2007 and May 2008 reports that about half of these visitors were aged between 45 and 59 years. Ninety-six per cent were from New Zealand, and 30 per cent were residents of Banks Peninsula.17 Visitor accommodation in Little River comprises several bed and breakfasts, a camping ground, garden eco-stay, holiday lodge, hotel and some holiday homes. There are innovative plans for accommodation in grain silos for cyclists using the rail trial. Accommodation providers are busy all year round. Their customers include walkers, cyclists, radio flyers, duck shooters, bird-watchers, and travellers passing through the area, and they host local weddings and other social events. Interviewees have noted an increased number of visitors since the Canterbury earthquakes – both non-Cantabrians wanting to stay to “do their bit for the Canterbury economy”, and Christchurch people unable to go mountain-biking in their usual places due to earthquake damage or “too many people on the trail”. Agricultural and forestry statistics are available for Christchurch City which includes Banks Peninsula and other rural areas. The Agricultural Survey recorded 15,706 dairy cattle, 36,932 beef cattle, 313,340 sheep, 13,389 pigs, and 13,349 Deer within the City boundaries at 30 June 2007.18 Many of the sheep and beef cattle graze in the valleys and on the hills of the Banks Peninsula. Dairy cattle, however, are less prevalent in Banks Peninsula as they are less suited to the topography. The number of dairy cows on Banks Peninsula’s farms declined from 2,134 to 2,080 between 1998/99 and 2011/12 as shown in Figure 1 and fell to 1,377 in the 2006/07 year.19 14 Christchurch City Council (2012). p.30 15 Cloesen, U. (2007). p.85