Superb or suburb? International case studies in management of icon landscapes

Report summary

What can New Zealand learn from overseas experience about the management of icon landscapes in peri-urban areas? Three locations were chosen to examine land use planning in the context of sustainable development: the Oak Ridges Moraine in Ontario, Canada; the Cape Peninsula in South Africa; and the Peak District in the United Kingdom.

Commissioner's preface

In the second half of the twentieth century many people of more affluent communities have increasingly sought living spaces in icon landscapes. This is in response to a lot of things, including: the desire for vistas, or to be closer to 'nature'; the need for a retreat from the pressures of life in a 'go faster' world; and people wishing to use desirable property to generate wealth for their retirement. Management of the impacts of people living in beautiful landscapes has become a major land-use planning challenge. How can this desire to inhabit these landscapes be met in ways that do not destroy, in the long term, the very values that attract people there in the first place?

Executive summary

New Zealand, in common with many other nations, is becoming increasingly concerned about human settlement impacts on desirable landscapes. In 2001 the PCE examined how these impacts were being played out, in our report Managing Change in Paradise: sustainable development in peri-urban areas. The findings of that report showed that some very fundamental shifts in thinking about planning approaches would be required to address the issues raised. This realisation led to the decision to examine how icon landscapes are being managed elsewhere in the world, in order to see what New Zealand could learn from the experiences of communities in other countries.

We present three case studies: the Oak Ridges Moraine in Ontario, Canada; the Cape Peninsula in South Africa; and the Peak District in the United Kingdom. Although these areas have very different histories, and political and social contexts, they provide valuable clues to the key ingredients for sustaining critical values in icon landscapes and ecosystems.

The Oak Ridges Moraine case study outlines the recent substantial changes to managing development on the Moraine. Until recently, development was managed under a framework led by provincial government policy, an approach which was seen to result in several problems, including no management of cumulative effects, and the compromising of the ecological integrity of the Moraine. In a remarkable change of approach, the Moraine is now subject to area-specific legislation that establishes a Moraine-wide conservation plan.

The Cape Peninsula's high biodiversity and great number of endemic plant species, make the area of interest internationally. Pressure on the area and its natural resources comes from the expansion of the city of Cape Town, unauthorised resource use, and informal settlements in natural areas. A large proportion of the Peninsula now forms the Cape Peninsula National Park. This case study looks at the approaches being used to manage this area, including the application of environmental management to both publicly and privately owned land, and the proposals to manage areas within and around the Cape Peninsula National Park according to their environmental sensitivity.

The Peak District National Park is a highly valued rural area that is close to large urban populations. In England, management of development pressures such as the demand for new housing, is through an integrated, centrally guided planning process. This case study summarises the important natural, cultural and economic values, and the major pressures on these values, and discusses the relevant organisations and programmes of the English planning process. It also highlights the differences between the English and New Zealand situation and approaches to managing development in peri-urban areas.

Key findings

• The more people present, the more the values of the landscape risk being compromised.
• There are values that are not well protected by the market and require government intervention in order to be maintained:
  
  
  • Ecological
  • Aesthetic
  • Open space
  • Cultural heritage
  • Access to the landscape
  • Opportunities for low-impact recreational activities.
• Environmental and cultural sustainability are the primary management goals.
• A long-term strategic vision that is community owned is important.
• Strong planning controls are required for private land to prevent ecological and human experience values being compromised by the cumulative effects of development.
• The common approach to planning is a prescriptive and directive graduated protection system, based on zoning of key areas. As such, the landscape is a lived in, working environment with core areas or features protected.
• Review of the planning approach is ongoing with mechanisms to protect the community's vision from political whims but allow for evolving societal values.
• Effective planning requires high-quality information and substantial resourcing. Central government guidance, information and funding are important, especially for smaller territorial authorities.
• A prescriptive planning approach is supported by: non-profit corporations assisting in achieving the strategic vision; flexible contractual arrangements for public-private partnerships; incentives for private landowners where public values of significance warrant protection or enhancement; and public education.
• The management framework needs to integrate across local authority boundaries, and across agency responsibilities and areas of expertise.