SNA focus questions

What does SNA FNDC stand for?

FNDC stands for Far North District Council and they are the council for the far north. SNA stands for Significant Natural Areas, and what this is, is that the council has identified special species and plants in these areas by taking photos, like satellite images and identifying special things and ecological value. 

What are some of the specific rules?

Some of the specific rules are that there is a limited amount of vegetation allowed to be planted, as well as cutting down vegetation within that land. Another rule that the FNDC have developed is that they are allowed to just walk into peoples’ land without their permission and snoop around wherever they want. 

For the landowners this means that nothing will affect them unless they are willing to develop their, aka, build or do deforestation. If the people are willing to develop their land they have to get resource consent to be able to cut down vegetation or any plants, or establish new uses of the land. There are also rules around how much vegetation you are able to exterminate, and about how you subdivide the land.

What is the FNDC council trying to develop?

What the council is trying to develop is that with all the SNAs, is that they want to help protect and balance special habitats and maintain the land usage around the far north area. And by the FNDC doing this, they are highlighting all the areas in the far north, and are trying to restrict people on their own land. I think the FNDC are doing this because they’re panicking at the fact that people are doing so much with their land, and the fact that the FNDC has finally realised how precious the land is and overreacting to what they think people might do with the land. It is clear that the FNDC haven’t properly thought about whether this might affect families that own land. So what the FNDC are doing to peoples’ land is basically covinenting all of it, in a way.

What restrictions does this mean for land owners?

This could mean for land owners that they can’t actually live on their land if they were planning this, or follow their plan of what they were going to do with their land. The restrictions for the landowners are limits on how much bush you are allowed to deforest, and rules on how you are allowed to subdivide your land.

How could this move affect you and your family?

This could affect all family’s with land, affect the way they live, or disrupt the family’s plans on building in that area. This is only a possibility but if a family is wanting to move onto their land, and will not be able to build anything, and if they are renting they will have to keep paying rent, and stay in the house unwillingly. I don’t know exactly how the SNA movement will affect families, but it certainly won’t be good for the majority of them.