Have your say on the future for the Mackenzie

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand is proud to be supporting Te Manahuna Ki Uta/the Destination Mackenzie project.

The project, led by the Mackenzie District Council, involves developing a 100-year vision for the district and Destination Management Plan to support the tourism industry, while protecting the natural values that make the area an attraction to locals and visitors alike.

The public are invited to provide feedback on what they would like Te Manahuna/the Mackenzie Basin to look like in the future. This feedback will be used to help shape the plans for the district. 

Toitū Te Whenua Land and Property Manager April Hussey, who is on the working group for the project, says she looks forward to hearing the great ideas people have for the district.

“We’re pleased to be a part of this exciting project that will build on existing efforts by Toitū Te Whenua, local councils, other government agencies, mana whenua, landholders, the community, and others, to protect the district. We encourage anyone who has a vision for the Mackenzie to share their thoughts.”

The public have an opportunity to share their ideas over the next month at one of several drop-in information sessions, or on the Mackenzie District Council website. 

The final plan is expected to be released in late 2021.

Other partners in the project include Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua, Te Rūnanga o Waihao, Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Department of Conservation, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, and the Mackenzie Development Group (MDG).

Mrs Hussey says the project will build on work the agencies with statutory responsibilities in the district have been doing since the establishment of the Mackenzie Basin Agency Alignment Programme in 2017.

She says the programme has sought to improve the way the land in the district is managed through better co-ordination of consenting and compliance activity, combining funding to fight wilding pines, as well as significant and ongoing investment into broader biosecurity activities across a wide range of pests and weeds.

Background information on Toitū Te Whenua involvement in the Mackenzie:

• Toitū Te Whenua is one of five agencies with statutory responsibilities in Te Manahuna/the Mackenzie Basin and is part of the Mackenzie Basin Agency Alignment Programme, which was established in 2017.
• We are responsible for administering 162 Crown pastoral leases in the South Island high country, that span 1.2 million hectares. There are currently 33 pastoral leases in the Mackenzie district.
• We also administer one responsible camping area in the district, Pines Camp, located near Lake Pukaki. This site is also home to a Ngāi Tahu nohoanga site.

Aside from our property management role in the district, we also conduct a range of pest and weed control to promote biodiversity. We are also leading a project to develop a common set of data and maps for the Mackenzie.