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A farmer herds sheep at Dunstan Downs station.
A 2,800 hectare swath of a Crown-owned rural South Canterbury station could be privatized.
Dunstan Downs Station, spans Canterbury and Otago and includes sections of the Lindis Pass and the St Bathans Range, to the Ahuriri River near Omarama. He has 3000 sheep.
The remaining 9,500ha section of the 12,350ha Dunstan Downs station would be converted to conservation land through a proposed tenure review.
The station’s co-owner, Charles Innes, said he was “frustrated” by the review process. The station had been rented by his family since 1919, but he was not sure the farm would survive if the latest proposal was approved.
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The tenure review is a voluntary process for Crown pastoral lease holders. It allows tenants to own part of the land, while the Crown converts the rest to conservation areas.
The government announced in 2018 that it would end the system after fearing that some of New Zealand’s most valuable crown lands would be privatized. However, the Innes family, who own the Dunstan Downs lease, were already in the process, some 20 years ago, Charles Innes said.
Through the proposal, 2815ha of the northern part of the land, near Omarama, would be privatized. Much of the area was “extensively modified for agricultural use,” according to the proposal.
However, 895ha of this will be privatized with an agreement for its “natural values”.
The land, most of it in the Lindis Pass, contained a “high degree of naturalness” and featured open spaces and native vegetation.
The rules would restrict new structures, burning and tree planting.
The new conservation land includes the western faces of the Wether and St Bathans Ranges, the ridge and eastern faces of the Dunstan Range, and the upper Dunstan Creek watershed. The spectacular landscape is covered with short-tufted grasslands and features threatened native plant species.
Sheep grazing would be allowed in two areas in the southern part of the land for another 15 and 10 years respectively, with restrictions on the number of sheep.
Supplied
A map of Dunstan Downs station, which is subject to tenure review.
The proposal said the landscape would be better managed by removing sheep to allow plants to grow. However, the allocation was made to give the tenants time to restructure the farming operation.
Innes said the farm might not be viable without the ability to herd sheep on Crown lands in the future, he said.
Sheep moved there from the northern part of the land in summer to graze.
The most recent tenure review tender started about five years ago. They entered it because of increased rental rents and restrictions on what farmers could do on the leased land, he said.
He was “not happy with” the proposal, but thought it might be all they could get. Whether they accepted it depended on how it changed after the introductions.
“It’s a really beautiful land, but I think the farmers are some of the best conservationists.”
The public’s response will form the basis of a new proposal, which must be accepted by the station owners.
Crown Lands Commissioner Craig Harris said under the proposal part of the “impressive St Bathans Range, will contribute to nearby conservation areas and reserves.”
Presentations close on November 24.
Another 27 properties are going through the tenure review process.
