NZ to tighten controls on land

WELLINGTON – New Zealand is tightening controls on sensitive land sales to overseas buyers amid fears that foreigners are snapping up some of the nation’s prime real estate, a senior minister said on Tuesday.

The changes will likely mean that US country music star Shania Twain, who wants to buy a chunk of rugged alpine land on New Zealand’s South Island, will be required to allow hikers, mountain bikers, climbers and hunters continued access to her land as a condition of the purchase, Finance Minister Michael Cullen told The Associated Press. “Issues of access will be very significant because this is a significant piece of New Zealand high country land” that Twain is trying to purchase, he said.There is growing public concern in New Zealand that foreign landowners are buying up some of the nation’s most prized real estate and at the same time reducing access to beaches and mountain regions.Overseas interest in New Zealand property has soared in recent years, in part because the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies have showcased the country’s spectacular landscape and party because the South Pacific nation is considered a safe haven from terrorists.Prices for houses rose an average 22 per cent in 2003, partly spurred by foreign buyers snapping up what many see as bargain-basement buys – particularly in tourist areas.The government reviewed rules for foreign buyers after a New York financier bought a historic coastal headland property, causing protests by indigenous Maori tribes over access to ancestral sites they said were on the land.Twain applied in June last year to buy the 17 000-hectare (42 000-acre) sheep farm Motutapu Station – a sprawling ranch near the tourist town of Wanaka in the Southern Alps.Twain and her producer-husband Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange are reported by local media to have offered 16 million New Zealand dollars (US$9,8 million) – four times a government valuation.Cullen is one of two ministers who must approve her proposed purchase.The tougher screening and compliance regime will apply to foreign buyers of land of “historical, heritage or environmental value”, he told reporters.Under the proposed rules, foreign buyers must get approval of their plans to manage any historic, heritage, conservation, or public access factors affecting the land, as well as proposals for its economic development.The buyers be required to stick to the plans after the land sale goes through, and will be monitored “until all obligations are met,” Cullen said of the Overseas Investment Act.While New Zealand values foreign investment, “we also need to ensure that (its) unique cultural and natural heritage is protected”, he added.As part of its move to nationalize the nation’s coastline, the government is also requiring anyone selling parts of the foreshore and seabed to a foreign buyer to first offer it to the government.The Labour-led coalition government is expected to have the votes to pass the new investment control regime through the nation’s parliament.If approved, it would become law sometime next year.- Nampa-AP”Issues of access will be very significant because this is a significant piece of New Zealand high country land” that Twain is trying to purchase, he said.There is growing public concern in New Zealand that foreign landowners are buying up some of the nation’s most prized real estate and at the same time reducing access to beaches and mountain regions.Overseas interest in New Zealand property has soared in recent years, in part because the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies have showcased the country’s spectacular landscape and party because the South Pacific nation is considered a safe haven from terrorists.Prices for houses rose an average 22 per cent in 2003, partly spurred by foreign buyers snapping up what many see as bargain-basement buys – particularly in tourist areas.The government reviewed rules for foreign buyers after a New York financier bought a historic coastal headland property, causing protests by indigenous Maori tribes over access to ancestral sites they said were on the land.Twain applied in June last year to buy the 17 000-hectare (42 000-acre) sheep farm Motutapu Station – a sprawling ranch near the tourist town of Wanaka in the Southern Alps.Twain and her producer-husband Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange are reported by local media to have offered 16 million New Zealand dollars (US$9,8 million) – four times a government valuation.Cullen is one of two ministers who must approve her proposed purchase.The tougher screening and compliance regime will apply to foreign buyers of land of “historical, heritage or environmental value”, he told reporters.Under the proposed rules, foreign buyers must get approval of their plans to manage any historic, heritage, conservation, or public access factors affecting the land, as well as proposals for its economic development.The buyers be required to stick to the plans after the land sale goes through, and will be monitored “until all obligations are met,” Cullen said of the Overseas Investment Act.While New Zealand values foreign investment, “we also need to ensure that (its) unique cultural and natural heritage is protected”, he added.As part of its move to nationalize the nation’s coastline, the government is also requiring anyone selling parts of the foreshore and seabed to a foreign buyer to first offer it to the government.The Labour-led coalition government is expected to have the votes to pass the new investment control regime through the nation’s parliament.If approved, it would become law sometime next year.- Nampa-AP