A Love of the Land

Artist Colin McCahon once lamented that Northland was a land in need of more lovers. were he alive, He’d rejoice in the return of Peter Cooper whose coastal development is highly praised by environmentalists.

Words: Kate Coughlan  Photographs: Aaron McLean

PETER COOPER IS NOT an effusive person. But when he talks about what is happening on 400 hectares of coastal land at the entrance to Kerikeri’s Te Puna Inlet, he is positively passionate about this project. The land is notable not only for its great beauty but also for its historical significance. It was the landing place of Maori voyaging canoes and adjoins the site of missionary Samuel Marsden’s initial mission station. On Christmas Day in 1814, Marsden preached the first Christian sermon in New Zealand on this land. It is Northland coast at its most glorious with pale sandy beaches, pohutukawa trees, secluded bays with tiny bush-clad islands and gently rolling green hills.

In 16 separate titles, the land could have been fragmented and sold for premium prices without requiring consent. However, that would fall far short of Peter’s goals of enhancing both its ecological and historical values in a sustainable manner. "I believe there is a better way and I am passionate about it. The challenge anyone has with a project such as this is how do you make it work economically?"

The innovation of this project excites the environmental watchdog organization Environmental Defence Society, which is so supportive it was willing to go to court to present favourable evidence. EDS chairman Gary Taylor says Peter’s model of how a project can fund expensive ecological restoration while maintaining public entitlements establishes a new threshold of what can be achieved.

Mountain Landing (the project is named after an early inhabitant, Walter C. Mountain) is a combination of 39 privately owned house sites set in 400 hectares of land that is sculpted, enhanced, replanted, polished and groomed into a parklike state with, eventually, a variety of very high-quality facilities. Tens of millions of dollars have already been spent during six years of ecological, archaeological and infrastructural development. A trust fund (endowed with an initial $2 million raised from a $50,000 contribution from each house-site sale) will administer the property in perpetuity, in conjunction with the council, to sustain ecological integrity and maintain heritage sites. "Our philosophy is to invest in the land, respect and understand the past, preserve the integrity of the entire landscape and enhance the intrinsic value of the property for the future," says Peter.

Gary Taylor agrees. "Peter has lifted the bar and established a new threshold for land development that others need to work towards. Already, other developers in the Bay of Islands area are aspiring to the standards he has achieved."

"Left as farmland," says Peter, "it could never pay for ecological enhancement or historical preservation. You cannot make that sort of investment and pay for it with farming." Yet farming is responsible for the degradation of land. Fencing waterways, wetlands and bush areas to protect fragile habitats from stock damage is beyond the reach of most farm budgets.

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