While browsing the page on progress of legislation [PDF] I noticed something curious: John Carter's Kerikeri National Trust Bill. This passed its first reading and was referred to select committee way back in 1995 - and its been there ever since. Its currently before the Local Government and Environment committee, which is due to report back by the 26th of May - but if the past is any guide, this will simply be extended, and the bill will continue to languish.
The bill itself would establish a trust to administer historic and scenic sites around Kerikeri. This doesn't sound that controversial, and I'm wondering why its been stalled so long...
Consider local politics and low level inter-agency issues, with the emphasis on the former. The Kerikeri Basin Sustainable Development plan has ben been rolling on for several years with no sign of any on-the-ground spending of the $10 million or so committed to preserving the historic fabric of the basin and sorting out the bridge issues. Many basin locals are loath to lose the current bridge because it will mean they will have to work another couple of hundred metres up the river to cross (plus all the property rights issues associated with this kind of heritage-focussed landscape planning), then add in one of the least heritage-friendly councils in the country, and that the management of the historic resources falls to several different agencies with different agendas (DoC manages Kororipo Pa and reserved land along the River, FNDC also has reserves at issue, and HPT manages the Stone Store and Kemp House).
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