An Australian company with forestry blocks in Marlborough will soon consult the public about access, as required by the Overseas Investment Office. OneFortyOne bought Nelson Forests Ltd following OIO approval in August, acquiring a large block of land in Marlborough's Wairau Valley, as well as properties in the Rai and Awatere valleys, Kaituna Sawmill and forests in Nelson and Tasman. The company bought the adjacent Manuka Island Forest bordering the Wairau River a few months later.
The Wairau Valley block totals about 12,000 hectares between Northbank and the Mount Richmond Forest Park, and contains historic goldmining sites, lakes and rivers, original native bush and large commercial forestry plantations.
OneFortyOne New Zealand executive general manager Lees Seymour said as a condition of the sale, the company had to check if the public was happy with access to or through the properties.
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"The forest is already pretty open, there's already quite a few easements through to Mount Richmond Forest Park and Lake Chalice and places like that," Seymour said.
"And there are already a lot of tracks, but of course we may have to look at signposts and tracks to make access safe, we don't want people falling over or getting lost."
The OIO required the consultation process to be finished by October 31, Seymour said.
"We want to make sure we do this right, we want the public to be happy with their access."
Submissions would be sought in July and August, and the company would decide when and where to hold a public meeting once it knew the level of interest.
Walking Access Commission Ara Hīkoi Aotearoa regional field adviser Penny Wardle said there were already tracks to Mount Richmond Forest Park, Big Bush Conservation Area and Black Birch Scenic Reserve, popular with hunters, fishers and mountainbikers.
Overseas buyers had to consult the commission about whether the public wanted better access to or through the property, she said.
Sometimes that meant creating "access strips" from a road to a river, the sea or public conservation land, and sometimes it meant creating marginal strips along the banks of rivers and the coast, usually 20 metres wide, she said.
"If the river or high tide mark moves, the strip moves with it, making sure future generations can go there," Wardle said.
The commission had assessed 335 applications since 2010, and access was recommended in 41 per cent of cases.
The commission was most interested in non-urban land over 5ha, and land next to lakes, rivers, foreshore and land managed by the Department of Conservation.
Wardle was working with the owners of several vineyards and forests to create opportunities for public access, she said.
The consultation came as the Ministry for Primary
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