The report is one of a series of case studies the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) is undertaking as part of a broader investigation into landscape protection in New Zealand. The authors argue for a strengthening of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act 2000 to better protect the landscapes of the Hauraki Gulf Islands.

Recommendations

1. Strengthen the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act: to make its objectives, and the priority between them clearer. In particular, the Act needs to provide a stronger protective layer over the important biodiversity and landscape values of the Hauraki Gulf islands.
2. Strengthen the District Plan provisions for Waiheke Island: so that they are clearer and more directive and leave less room for discretion. Where discretion is exercised, make greater provision for public input through notification procedures.
3. Develop a Hauraki Gulf Islands Overlay: for incorporation within the Auckland Unitary Plan in order to retain the ethos of the provisions in the Hauraki Gulf Islands District Plan and a focus on the individual characteristics of the islands.
4. Develop tailored island precinct plans for each island and surrounding marine area: for incorporation within the Auckland Unitary Plan below the Hauraki Gulf Islands Overlay. Tailor rules to the sensitive island environments, incorporate design guidelines and control the impacts of fishing on marine biodiversity surrounding the islands.
5. Develop more strategic and spatially-focused local area plans for the islands along the model of the Auckland Plan to provide greater direction for development and conservation on the islands in the long term
6. Consider developing co-governance arrangements and legal personhood for the Aotea Conservation Park: through amendments to the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act to raise its status, provide a more compelling proposition for funding, and strengthen Ngāti Rehua-Ngātiwai ki Aotea’s kaitiaki role on Aotea/Great Barrier Island.
7. Promote a move to ‘slow’ tourism: on Aotea/Great Barrier and Waiheke Islands. To achieve this support the development and implementation of destination management plans, revise the concession system on Aotea/Great Barrier Island and promote sustainable tourism on Waiheke Island.