Newspaper Article 1994 – They have a feeling for land

They have a feeling for land

By Bronwyn Bennett
Staff reporter, Hastings

Havelock North land developers Hamish and Audrey McHardy say they have a feeling for their land that goes beyond the need to subdivide to provide for their retirement.

Mr McHardy does not intend wrecking the environment where he intends to continue living, but the former Omakere farmer who has a degree in economics and spent seven years working for a merchant bank, also recognises the value of his land and admits his subdivision plans are commercially driven.

Mr McHardy was farming both at Omakere and in Te Mata Peak Rd when he came to live permanently in Havelock North in 1979. He sold both properties in 1984 to buy the historic Tauroa homestead from the Chambers family and two adjoining properties to create a 144-hectare farm.

7000 trees planted

Since then the McHardys have redeveloped the homestead’s gardens and recently completed planting 7000 trees on unstable sections of the farm. Not a pine tree was planted, only flowering trees such as kowhai and eucalypts to encourage native birds.

Mr McHardy says his own concern for the land gives him sympathy for arguments by the tangata whenua that the farm should not be subdivided. Maori have a stronger feeling for the land than pakeha.

He has stopped all bulldozing on the present 34ha subdivision, which is expected to create 46 home sites, in case of appeals by objectors.

When they bought the property it was zoned rural. Five years ago it was rezoned to rural five to allow the establishment of lifestyle blocks. Last month the Hastings District Council approved further changes to allow more intensive subdivision.

There were 24 objectors.

Mr McHardy won’t comment on another controversial subdivision plan by Anne and James Joll higher up on Te Mata Peak where objectors say housing and earthworks will destroy the skyline.

“Nothing we’re doing alters the Te Mata Peak skyline except for those people at the bottom of Toop St,” says Mr McHardy who once flirted with national politics by standing for Bob Jones’s New Zealand Party as the candidate for Hawke’s Bay in 1985.

He cites the extension of walkways from his subdivision into Te Mata Peak as a bonus which will benefit a large number of people.

Mr McHardy has also set aside land for reserves in gullies on either side of the ridge where the road ends in Hikanui Drive.

He wants to plant those gullies himself and points to slips in the Tainui reserve where no planting has been done either by the Havelock North Borough Council or the Hastings District Council for more than 30 years.

The council has said it would accept his land, but it would be developed by its park and reserves staff. Mr McHardy still wants to work with park staff on what should be planted.

Knows what grows

“I wanted to plant the periphery (of the subdivision) because I have lived here long enough to see the sort of trees that attract tui, wood pigeons and quail. I know what grows here. If I plant them I know they’ll be planted. There’s no financial advantage to me in planting it.

“A lot of this country is soft alluvial soil and ash with no hard pan. In rain it is subject to surface slipping. It’s too steep for easy grazing and it’s better planted in trees.

“I honestly believe it will be beautiful in years to come. With walkways, it will be great for everyone. Every house will have a view of the plains,” he said.

The McHardys have five children and the land is in trust to them.

Te Mata Trust Board chairman Mason Chambers, whose father and grandfather farmed the McHardy land, is all for the walkways and improved planting for birds. But he has reservations about the land being re-formed and bulldozed.

“The visual impact on Hamish’s land is far less than the Jolls’ subdivision because of the elevation. But Hamish has overstepped the mark where he has levelled the earth,” Mr Chambers said.

Photo caption – Mr McHardy…plants for the native birds.