Regional economic transformation: Changing land and resource access on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island

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Regional economic transformation: Changing land and resource access on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island Etienne Nel , Sean Connelly ⁎

Department of Geography, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9010, New Zealand

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Keywords: New Zealand Forestry Resources Mining Path dependence Contestation Land access New regionalism

The West Coast region of New Zealand has experienced significant structural economic changes since the 1980s. These changes have been a result of state imposed land use restrictions that limited productivist activities such as logging and mining, which in turn have been overlain by the effects of changes in national and global resource demand. This has led to both job loss and local resentment to what is seen to be external political and environmental interference in the region. Such changes overlay on-going boom-and-bust cycles experienced in the region’s resource dependent communities and the state’s pursuit of neo-liberalism from the 1980s, leading to the loss of state support and employment in the region. Regional path-dependence and ‘lock-in’ centred on productivist activities and the slow realisation of the need to diversify the economy have not helped. The region has under-performed in comparison with national trends economically and demographically reflecting and reinforcing local path dependence. The gradual growth of the service and tourism economies marks a new use for land resources and slow structural economic change. However, in the absence of governance processes that allow for collaborative planning to resolve conflicts over future trajectories for the region, conflicts over land uses, resources and access are likely to persist.

1. Introduction Regions around the world, particularly those which have depended on resource exploitation have experienced significant changes in the economic fortunes in recent decades. These changes result from shifts in global and national resource demand, moves to reduce carbon emissions, the reduced role of the state and the rise of ‘new regionalism’ anchored on local action (Markey et al., 2000; Ryser et al., 2014, 2019). Many regions have struggled to break-out of traditional dependence on resource based industries and suffer from both path-dependency and historic boom-and-bust cycles enhancing their vulnerability to shifts in national and global resource demand. In addition, the loss of state support as a result of the widespread application of neoliberalism has raised the importance of local and regional pro-activity in the search for economic and development alternatives (Carbonnier, 2011; Ryser et al., 2019). Within this context, land-use planning is increasingly recognised as a mechanism through which new opportunities can be pursued linked to old or new economic activity. However, such interventions run the risk of reflecting partisan or elite control (Feiock, 2004; Wu and Cho, 2007), particularly in the context of new regionalism where the internal politics, culture and economies of place become more prominent (Wheeler, 2002). The clash between differing views on the value of ⁎

land, and its use and exploitation in terms of economic gain versus issues of social justice and environmental sustainability are particularly controversial (Feiock et al., 2008). This is all the more so when historically important resource development activities are constrained through externally determined land use policies and land-use planning. These interventions fundamentally restructure local and regional economic trajectories and shift both land uses and employment opportunities (Kim, 2011), exacerbating the negative effects of ‘boom and bust’ in resource dependent communities and challenge entrenched path dependency (Van Assche et al., 2016). Land and access to land is a critical element in local and regional economic development (Blakely, 2010). However access to, and the uses to which land may be put does not operate in a vacuum; rather access reflects the balance between productive and community interests, inherent power relations in local and national societies and the perceived value of particularly assets, such as land, in environmental, social, economic and political terms. As such, land related ‘decisions are inherently political’ and there is frequent contestation over access between ‘those seeking economic gain … as well as those seeking to promote environmental values … or protect the quality of life’ (Feiock et al., 2008, p.461). These conflicts between economic and environmental well-being are at the heart of debates about the meaning and

Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (E. Nel).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.04.008 Received 9 October 2018; Received in revised form 23 March 2019; Accepted 2 April 2019 0264-8377/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Etienne Nel and Sean Connelly, Land Use Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.04.008

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value of sustainable development, which seek to resolve the environmental paradox that results from a mismatch between the seemingly infinite demand for Earth resources and finite supply (Williams and Millington, 2004). Overlaying this context, traditional ‘top-down’ land management approaches which impact on land use and spatial structure are increasingly contested by ‘bottom-up’ interests, leading to conflict over planning, economic development and environmental protection (Kim, 2011), a situation exacerbated when local people perceive that external actors are restricting access to local assets and livelihood options. In regions whose economies have, for generations, relied on resource exploitation, have failed to diversify and have strong path dependencies, (Harvey, 2006; Ryser et al., 2014; Fleming et al., 2015) there can a very real sense of aggrievement if external controls over access to resources and land in particular are imposed (Markey et al., 2000). This pattern is even more common as sustainability and environmental concerns and historic damage influence governments and their electorates to place restrictions on unsustainable land management practise, often with costs borne by the local communities which have historically derived their livelihoods from resource exploitation. Within this context perceptions regarding the role of landuse planning and the associated access to land become a source of contestation and accusation with policy makers often becoming the scapegoats for deeper structural difficulties and market failures (Gunder, 2016). This becomes all the more prevalent where ‘boom and bust’ cycles in a neo-liberal context narrow both economic opportunities and future options and where affected communities often seek to return to a past which is receding and where decision-making at higher spatial levels directly impact local activity. This makes the breaking of path-dependency extremely difficult and often pits the affected local community against the state and/or any external actors perceived to be denying local people access to resources and land which they once had (Gunder, 2016). In the New Zealand context, strong adherence to market based principles and associated limited state control over land-use and exploitation characterised much of that country’s history since colonial settlement in the 1840s. This gradually gave way in the 1980s to an uneasy balance between market-based solutions to problems, increasing public support for conservation and the slow recognition of Māori land rights and values (Bess, 2010). The 150 years of resource exploitation led to ‘often irreversible change in the biophysical environment’ (Bess, 2010, p.690), which saw the total forested area in the country diminish from approximately 50% of the total land area in 1840 to some 25% in 1900. In this ‘boom’ phase the effective absence of land access control and planning prevailed encouraging resource exploitation, for national and global markets. This paper is focused on the West Coast region of New Zealand (see Fig. 1), a region which, historically has depended on local resource exploitation for its economic wellbeing. We argue that there are certain realities which make this region distinctive from other similar resource dependent regions in NZ and in other countries. In the first instance, in other countries, such a Canada, where neo-liberalism has eroded state regional and local economic support and has often seen the central state encouraging externally driven resource exploitation, while local actors often try to preserve their environment and promote post-productive activities (Ryser et al., 2019), the reverse is true in the West Coast context. Over the last quarter of a century, contrary to local wishes, the central state removed access to most of the land for productive purposes by allocating it to conservation. Presently, 83% of the region’s land area, and 94% of its indigenous forests are controlled by the Department of Conservation. This has caused long-term local hostility towards the state and the conservation community (Memon and Wilson, 2007) and local leadership continue to argue for the need to return to historic productivist activities of mining and timber milling, revealing entrenched path-dependency. Secondly, nationally in the country land access and planning has increasing been decentralized and in is a process generally overseen by local government through the Resource

Management Act (1991) (Memon and Wilson, 2007). However, in the West Coast, local land use decisions over the majority of the land base are centralized and are additionally restricted by the Conservation Act that limits activities to the purposes of conservation (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2010), meaning that the central state often has the final say over land-use, particularly for economic gain. This paper charts how the dramatic change in land use that occurred with the imposition of the Conservation Estate has impacted on the regional economy, the on-going boom and bust experience, the degree to which the regional economy has been able to restructure and the role which key actors have played in subsequent efforts to diversify the economy thus helping to break out of or reinforcing a resource-based path dependence. In addition, the paper explores the on-going tensions that stem from attempts to link land use change, community development and economic development, all of which shape long-term development strategies in diverse ways. We highlight obstacles and challenges which impede the pursuit of new development paths including entrenched discourses, images of the past and resentment against what is perceived to be external interference. As a result, economic and community development has been uneven, the population has declined or at best remained static and the economy has struggled to restructure away from resource exploitation. The discourse, if not the reality of restricted access to state land for economic purposes, still dominates local perceptions of the region’s future. At this stage the shift to postproductivist activities such as tourism and new business development which can create new ‘development stories’, while experiencing rapid growth, is still in its infancy and is often driven by forces external to the region. In terms of methodology, the research on which this paper is based is derived from a larger study of regional economic change. Main methods employed include documentary text analysis and a secondary literature review of local and regional plans and strategies and semistructured interviews held over a period of five years with various informants in the region, including elected officials, public servants, community and union leaders and private sector representatives. This paper, after overviewing contextual information relevant to the study area, will examine regional debates over land and resource access from the 1990s, subsequent efforts to diversify the economy and the ongoing antagonism held by the region’s leaders to the state and environmental advocates more generally. The paper concludes with a discussion of the key themes examined and reflections on possible development alternatives for the region. 2. The West Coast 2.1. Initial settlement and productivist activities The West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island is a sparsely populated region that stretches 600 km along the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, lying between the Southern Alps to the east and the Tasman Sea. The high mountains physically isolate the region from the rest of the country and it can only be accessed by one rail and four road passes across the long mountain chain. Traditional mining and forestry activities gave the region a distinctive character and identity over time, which was very different from the agricultural and urban dominated economies of the rest of the country. In the nineteenth and twentieth century, the region was a key contributor to the national economy as a primary source of timber and the major coal mining region. That role and the region’s overall contribution to the national economy diminished as national and global markets for coal declined and the government imposed restrictions on forestry, forcing the region to explore other economic alternatives (Conradson and Pawson, 2009). The region was first settled in the 13th century by Māori groups. Significant numbers of European settlers arrived in the 1860s after the discovery of gold with the population of the region rising from 500 in 2

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Fig. 1. New Zealand’s West Coast of the South Island and its Main Centres. Source: adapted from: DoC, 2010.

1864 to 28,700 in 1867 (Simon, 2015). After a decline in gold production, further resource-based economies developed around coal mining, logging and agriculture. In 1936 the population peaked at 40,136 and has since trended downwards following the booms and busts of various resource cycles. By 2013 the population had fallen to 31,148, with over half that number located in the towns of Greymouth, Westport, Reefton and Hokitika (see Fig. 1). As noted above, a productivist approach (Wilson, 2001) has dominated economic and political thinking on the West Coast since the 1900s and is a ‘reflection of the high degree of long-standing dependence of the regional economy on natural resources (forestry today, coal and gold in the past) for employment and maintenance of services and infrastructure’ (Memon and Wilson, 2007, p.751).

2.2. Economic booms and busts Prior to the 1980s the limited nature of conservation on the West Coast meant that significant and widespread exploitation of natural resources was taking place, with mining and forestry towns opening and closing in response to resource availability and exhaustion and shifts in market demand. As a result, some 70 ghost towns now exist in the region following the boom and bust of timber milling and gold and coal mining towns from the 19th through to the twentieth centuries. These include places like Kotuku which once hosted 5 timber mills and Waiutu which was once the country’s richest gold mine. Within this context the role of the state as both a direct participant and regulator of productivist activity was significant, through both the state forestry service and state run coal mining which both employed significant numbers of local people, and through allowing private and public access to key land resources. According to Maunder (2012, p.14), the 3

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reality is that the region is a virtual ‘third world’ province in terms of its dependence on a narrow band of primary products. As one planner from the region explained in relation to the repeated boom-bust cycles, ‘there’s a certain acceptance of that here, that that’s the way it is and, we just need to see it through to the next coal mine opening or next big industry investment that comes to the area, looking for resources’ (Key Informant 1, 2013). However, the more recent bust, from 2014, that resulted from the drop in the global price for coal has been significant. In Westport ‘they’ve now got 100 empty rental houses in the town because previously you had, I think it was an extra 1000 jobs based up in the coal mines north of Westport and they’ve just disappeared incrementally over the last 18 months to 2 years’ (Key Informant 2, 2015). Prospects have not improved, leading the Mayor of Greymouth to recently (June 2018) refer to the ‘perfect storm’ – i.e. the collapse of the coal company Solid Energy, the Pike mine disaster, which saw the closure of one of the largest mines following a tragic accident, and the impact of on-line shopping of retail centres (Otago Daily Times, 2018a, Otago Daily Times, 20 June 2018). The region’s resource dependence, relative isolation, and difficulties experienced with trying to diversify its economy have led to the government regarding the West Coast as a ‘problem’ region (Britton et al., 1992; Conradson and Pawson, 2009). The challenging economic situation is exemplified by the reality that in 1984 one-third of the region’s employment was in primary sector activities and 49% of all fulltime jobs were in the state or local government sectors, making the region extremely vulnerable to both state-led economic restructuring and shifts in the global market (Pawson and Scott, 1992). A strong sense of regional identity and resentment against state cuts led to a series of popular protests in the 1980s in the region, but this had no effect on the process of restructuring as the state adopted a strong neo-liberal approach, axing former regional support and dramatically cutting state services and employment as noted below (Britton et al., 1992). The decline of the forestry sector as a result of the ban on nativetimber logging from the late 1990s, (discussed below), the conversion of 83% of the land area into a conservation estate and the vesting of final authority over its use in the central state has narrowed options for economic diversification and local action. This aggravated local resentment against external planning and decision-making (Gunder, 2016). Obvious national gains in terms of environmental protection and a reduced carbon footprint sit uncomfortably with the regional perspective. These impacts have been partially offset, in economic and employment terms by the growth in dairy production and tourism (Simon, 2015). The regional identity of the ‘Coast’ remains anchored on concepts of independence, the widely held perception that coal is the heritage and perhaps also the future of the region, and that state bureaucrats and environmentalists are to blame for many of the region’s challenges (see Fig. 2). The following quote illustrates these points: ‘well, it’s people in Auckland that want to save their conscience by protecting the West Coast because they’ve destroyed their environment in the city’ (Key informant 3, 2013). Similarly, according to the chairwoman of Minerals West Coast: ‘the whole country was reliant on West Coast resources … coal can never be economically or sustainably replaced by any other fuel (in Otago Daily Times, 2018a, Otago Daily Times, 8 June 2018). While the cycles of booms and busts associated with extractive industries has been perceived to be the norm, more recent structural changes related to reduced global demand for coal and changes in access to forestry resources for local mills suggest a more permanent transition is underway. According to the mayor of Grey district ‘it has been a painful transition from extractive to sustainable industry. A lot of people left. It came to a head with the Pike River disaster (when an explosion led to loss of life and the closure of one of the primary coal mines) and then Solid Energy (a parastatal coal-mining company) going into receivership. There are virtually no miners left in the Grey district. Now the main driver in our economy is tourism. That is where the employment is in the future’ (Stuff.co.nz, 2016 stuff.co.nz, 13 August

Fig. 2. New mural in the recently developed public square in the Greymouth CBD. Source: Alison Floyd (used with permission), own collection.

2016). Despite the establishment of a Development Trust as compensation for the removal of forestry land from productive use in 2002, the effects of neo-liberal restructuring of the 1980s, including the axing of regional development support, the loss of a significant number of state jobs that resulted from the restructuring of rail, infrastructure and state services and the loss of mining and forestry jobs has played a critical role in impacting the ability of the region to respond to new economic and environmental realities. 3. Economic restructuring of the West Coast from the 1980s In this section, the rationalisation of state management is first examined, followed by a more detailed examination of land use intervention that restricted access to resources as a result of the imposition of the conservation estate. The absence of significant development alternatives and dependence on traditional activities, often more in mind than practice, have created rigidities in local perceptions which have limited opportunities to engage in governance and decision-making across the region and beyond. This was vividly expressed in 2019 by the West Coast Regional Council, which demanded proof that anthropogenic factors had caused climate change before they would be prepared to support the national Zero Carbon Bill which enjoys widespread national support. Threats to coal mining jobs was cited in support of their stance (Stuff.co.nz, 2019 stuff.co.nz, 29/1/2019). 3.1. The neo-liberal embrace in New Zealand State restructuring and the associated removal of trade barriers meant that, from the mid-1980s, the national economy in New Zealand and its regional sub-economies were severely influenced by both nationally driven economic policy changes and the parallel impact of globalization (Peet, 2012). How the country’s regions have responded to these structural changes and the loss of state support makes New Zealand of interest due to the rapidity of the rollout of neoliberalism, and the vulnerability of its small economy to market forces. In addition, compared with many other western democracies, local government is almost wholly reliant on locally generated funds which reduces their capacity to respond to change when conventional local economic activities are constrained (Dalziel and Lattimore, 2004; Memon and Wilson, 2007; Lattimore and Eaqub, 2011). From the 1980s, pre-existing regional development policy, which had provided limited support to the region was axed (Britton et al., 1992). In terms of state operations, the social welfare state was severely 4

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trimmed, the state divested from industries such as coal and forestry, and many former state services were privatised and rationalised leading to the closure of rural hospitals, post offices and transport services. In 1987 state sector jobs on the West Coast, many in forestry, fell from 2371 to 1497 and then to 917 in 1991, while unemployment rose from 6.7%–12.8% (Native Forest Action, n.d.). In the coal sector, where the once strong union movement had played a key role in achieving social reform nationally, the position of mining and miners was significantly reduced by state withdrawal from the mining industry, market fluctuations, and restrictions on union activity, the latter reflecting a promanagement stance adopted by the state (Maunder, 2012; Wright, 2014). By 1987, coal mining (both state and private) had fallen from 24% to 4% of male regional employment, while it was estimated that some 900 state jobs had been lost by that year in a region which, at that stage, only had a population of 35,000 (Britton et al., 1992; Le Heron and Pawson, 1996). The embrace of neo-liberalism generated significant national challenges. It exposed the country to global market forces which often severely affected resource dependent regions such as the West Coast, and the economy took more than 10 years to recover from the economic shock while significant welfare and inequality challenges have emerged over time (Dalziel and Lattimore, 2004; Memon and Wilson, 2007; Lattimore and Eaqub, 2011).

in 2000, ending logging of native trees on Crown land, leading to significant loss of forestry jobs, and placing 83% of the surface area of the West Coast into a conservation estate to be managed by the DoC. From 1907–2002 the area of state land available to be logged fell from 810 000 ha to zero and the volume produced fell from 83 million cubic meters to zero (Memon and Wilson, 2007). These moves were greeted with anger and resentment on the West Coast that persists decades later. As late as June 2018, West Coast leaders once again argued that there should be a reversion to the 1987 process (Otago Daily Times, 2018b, Otago Daily Times, 15 June 2018). In terms of the timber industry the cessation of rimu logging in 2000 obliged remaining saw mills to rely exclusively on plantations of exotic pine, sourced primarily from privately held land. However, by 2018 poor regrowth and climate issues have negatively impacted the remaining four saw mills on the West Coast, putting at risk the 250 remaining jobs in the forestry sector (Stuff.co.nz, 2018a,b,c stuff.co.nz, 20 June 2018). What has taken place with respect to access to land for resource exploitation highlights the tensions between emerging environmental goals, locked-in economic development approaches and the relative roles of local and central state in governance over land use. At one level, there appears to have been little questioning of just what sustainability and sustainable timber harvesting means, particularly prior to 2000, with little consideration given to the potential impact of the introduction of exotic tree species and how the long growth cycle required in forestry would actually impact on production and employment. For forestry interests, sustainability was interpreted as maintaining existing timber production levels, while for environmental advocates, it was interpreted as preservation of forests. These conflicts were never resolved. At another level, while in other countries, such as Canada, neoliberalism often facilitated external access to resources, often against local wishes (Ryser et al., 2019), the opposite is true for the West Coast. While elsewhere in New Zealand neo-liberalism has facilitated external access to land and resources and vested local land use planning and development in local and regional hands, particularly through the decentralization of decision-making over land use planning through the Resource Management Act (1991), the imposition of the conservation estate has had the opposite effect on the West Coast. Driven largely by environmental concerns, the state removed land from productive access and placed it under the stewardship of DoC (the Department of Conservation), a central state agency. While land held in conservation or stewardship in New Zealand does not enjoy absolute protection from resource exploitation in the same way that the national parks do, it does mean that local control over land use is constrained by central government and is required to meet conservation objectives as is determined by the Minister of Conservation. For example, approvals to operate a mine on conservation land are subject to the terms of the Conservation Act (1987), Resource Management Act (1991) and the unique West Coast Forest Accord Act (2000). Local applications and proposals under the Resource Management Act are subject to these higher level controls (DoC, n.d.; Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2010, 2013; 2014), which as recent events regarding a failed coal mining bid at Te Kuha have shown is unlikely to be allowed (Otago Daily Times, 2018a, Otago Daily Times, 20 June 2018). In the latter case, the local authority used its powers under the Resource Management Act to approve the establishment of the mine, but this move was blocked by state refusal to grant access to the site over state land. In this regard while granting land access for economic purposes is generally the remit of local government in New Zealand, in the case of most of the West Coast the opposite is true. Central state oversight and the associated restrictions on productivist activities, in the light of their evident environmental cost, stand in contrast to entrenched local path dependency and seeming reluctance to acknowledge that global and national realities require a new economic and environmental mindset. This is naturally over and above the loss of the global market for many of the region’s products. Local arguments in favour of the proposed mine development made

3.2. The imposition of the conservation estate The preceding removal of state support and the state’s withdrawal from productivist activities de facto reduced land access for purposes of resource exploitation starting the process of forced economic restructuring on the West Coast. This was taken significantly further from the 1990s when a much stronger, nationally imposed, conservation ethic came to shape the fate of the region. At a national level, growing environmental concerns and political pressure from the 1980s to save indigenous forests started to shape national thinking. These efforts were primarily focused on the West Coast of the South Island, where, due to its relative isolation, the last tracks of significant indigenous forests remained. While moves were instituted to protect indigenous forests and extend the conservation estate nationally, the state recognised how dependent the West Coast was on logging and introduced a stop-gap measure to both advance forest protection and protect livelihoods and established industries. Known as the West Coast Forestry Accord and enacted from 1987, the Accord sought to balance the competing interests of conservation with the preservation of timber forestry on the West Coast by allocating large tracks of the West Coast to the newly formed Department of Conservation (DoC) (NZine, n.d.). The purpose of the Accord was to develop an overall strategy for forestry on the West Coast that would preserve areas of high conservation value while allocating a sufficient supply of indigenous trees to sawmills to maintain employment until timber from exotic plantation pine forests could take their place (Wilson and Memon, 2005, 2007). The Accord placed an end date of the felling of indigenous rimu by 2006 and doubled the volume of available exotic pine which could be harvested from state forests (Native Forest Action, n.d.). 78% of the West Coast forests were placed under permanent protection, 8% were set aside for managed timber production and the balance reserved for private ownership (NZine, n.d.). However, the competing agendas of productivist use of the land on one hand and environmental protection on the other unravelled, with the West Coast municipal councils uniting with the timber industry and forming the West Coast Resource Interest which took the government to court due to disagreement over the meaning of the concept of ‘sustainable yield’. Forestry interests felt that the Accord had been broken because not enough trees were made available, while at the same time, coalitions of environmental groups in the cities were pressuring government to ban all harvesting of indigenous forests on public lands (Wilson and Memon, 2005). As a result, the state suspended the Accord 5

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reference to the small footprint of mining activity relative to the overall conservation estate and touted the economic benefits that would be derived from new mine development and operation. Even though only 58 jobs were expected to materialise, the local response was negative and there was local protest action in support of the region’s primary industries (Otago Daily Times, 2018c Otago Daily Times, 20 July 2018). A West Coast regional councillor called the move ‘regional genocide’ and stated that the future of the region looked ‘bleak’. He went on to say ‘the consultation process is a farce. The greenies will swamp the submission process. The West Coast hills are full of gold, coal and a lot of other minerals. The only problem is government policy. No wonder we are despondent’ (Otago Daily Times, 2018a Otago Daily Times, 8 June 2018). Such strongly held views serve to reinforce local resentment and are not conducive to seeking collaborative ways through which to diversify and grow the regional economy. On-going tension between regional / local actors and national / state role-players which has played itself out over 30 years appears to have entrenched rigidities in local thinking. This is particularly true at the regional governance level, as noted above, where the West Coast Regional Council, in contrast to all other authorities in the country, are opposing the Zero Carbon Bill, on the grounds of questioning evidence of climate change and perceived risks to mining (Stuff.co.nz, 2019 stuff.co.nz, 29 January 2019). Despite the globally recognised significance of the need for collaborative action to address climate change and carbon impact (Carbonnier, 2011) local antagonism and path dependence have created a volatile local situation. Despite this, local peculiarities will inevitably be subsumed by much larger and more significant national and global responses to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, efforts to diversify the regional economy, which is the focus of the next section, take on a particular significance. However, competing views about future development activities and land use and a lack of a collaborative engagement has constrained economic diversification.

$2 million was also given to each council for facility upgrades. These investments off-set the contributions of local ratepayers and contributed to local service provision. In terms of economic development, general business mentoring is also provided by DWC, business awards are supported and there is representation in regional and national horticultural and mineral forums. There were also one-off payments of $ 1.5mn for two cycle ways, and $1 million was invested in a training facility. The report suggests a preference towards funding facility upgrades rather than direct investment in economic development (DWC, 2015). Current moves in 2018/19 to transform the DWC into a Regional Economic Development agency have yet to bear fruit. It is apparent from the preceding that DWC has not overseen significant economic restructuring, and interventions have been limited and have often focussed on social infrastructure. 4.2. New economic activities As is evident from the above discussion there are local endeavours to restructure the local economy, while many are of a small scalenature, the growing emphasis on tourism is significant. The latter is capitalising on the tourism boom which the country is currently experiencing and the scenic attraction of the area. Ironically, access to the conservation estate is a key element in the touristic experience, with forests walks, cycle trails and access to the coast and lakes representing a post-productivist use of the land resource. By 2010 employment opportunities in tourism had risen from close to zero to 2800 to become one the most important sectors in the region (Berl, 2010). The fact that it is a low-waged sector, is seasonal in nature and many key operators are not locally based does detract from the local impact of the activity. Hokitika, has experienced something of a revival as a result of its development and attraction as a tourism centre and the significant expansion of the regional dairy products factory in the town. A local agency, Enterprise Hokitika and the local tourism body promotes the town and business activity and supports the annual ‘Wild-foods festival’ which has raised the town’s profile as a tourism destination (Key Informant 8, 2015). Mining has contracted significantly in recent years, with micro gold mines being the one area with some long term potential. With the effective cessation of coal mining the ‘fly-in, fly-out’ system prevails with many local miners now employed on short-term contracts in other areas and Australia in particular, while some of those employed in the region’s remaining mines are not necessarily local residents, in terms of the same system (Key Informant 9, 2016). Agriculture in the region has benefitted from the opportunities which the growing dairy industry and international exports have provided over much of the last 30 years, but once again this has perpetuated this region’s dependence on externally driven market opportunities (Conradson and Pawson, 2009). The total dairy cattle numbers have grown from 37,772 in 1990 to 670,581 in 2013. However, the intensification of agriculture, focused predominantly on dairy farming, has resulted in fewer people working more land, decreasing on-farm employment and there have been flow-on effects in terms of the consolidation of agricultural services in fewer towns (Joseph et al., 2001). On the positive side, the Westland Milk Products plant in Hokitika has undergone considerable expansion, with production increasing from nearly 400 million litres to 753 million litres and it has grown to employ 400 staff (Key Informant 10, 12 June 2015).

4. Efforts to diversify the economy 4.1. Development west coast To compensate the region for the loss of access to land for logging, the government provided a NZ $120 million package to the West Coast to assist communities to adjust to the loss of the logging industry, of which $28 million was paid directly to the four local councils in the region. The remaining $92 million was placed into a trust called ‘Development West Coast’ (DWC) which was established to manage the fund in order to promote sustainable employment and economic benefits for the region (Development West Coast, 2015). The Trust initially investigated potential projects in forestry, mining, tourism, and aquaculture (DWC, 2004; Conradson and Pawson, 2009) and funded several small industries (Key Informant 5, 2014; Key Informant 6, 2015; Key Informant 7, 2015). The subsequent failure of a number of these investments (including an ice cream factory and a cranberry farm) led to a strategic rethink on the part of the DWC, which, controversially in the region, led to the adoption of a conservative approach to development, tending rather to invest and build their cash base, and to distribute interest annually. This amounted to $4.6 million in 2012. There are competing local views of what role DWC should play. Some local stakeholders think it should act more like an economic development agency and both invest in projects and attract new industry and business development. Others point to its status as a charitable trust and the commitment to manage the endowment from government for future generations. The 2012 DWC Annual Report showed that the interest was used to support the DWC operational budget and an annual grant was made to each of the three district councils of $ 400,000 to be used to upgrade a range of sports or community facilities such as halls and information centres (DWC, 2012, 2015). In that year an additional one-off grant of

4.3. New regional development opportunities New Zealand has not actively pursued a significant regional development strategy since the 1980s, preferring to leave regions to the whims of local action and market forces. However, from 2014 government started to encourage regions to form regional governance groups and identify regional action plans and from 2018, in terms of the new Provincial Growth Fund, has started to fund regionally identified 6

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development projects (MBIE, n.d.). In this regard the Regional Development Plan for 2014–2030 (Development West Coast, 2015) was drawn up having a focus on support for the historic, resource-based economic strengths in the region, with the exception of a new tourism focus (Key Informant 11, 2015), and in so-doing did not suggest a break from the region’s traditional economic path-dependence. While supporting diversification, it also argued that the sectoral foundation of the economy was unlikely to change. The Plan set aspirational targets for 2030 based on an anticipated 25% growth in job numbers, population growth of 15%, and GDP growth of 35% (West Coast Regional Council 2015). These outcomes are all dependent on the traditional strengths of the West Coast economy (Key informant 12, 2014). So while there was acknowledgement of the need for economic diversification, local leadership struggle to envision an economic future that does not involve further resource extraction, and for them it was the lack of control over land use which is partly to blame. The notion that the region’s natural resources are the foundation for past, present and future wealth underlay the strategy’s core arguments (Key informant 13, 2013). Following government engagement, a modified regional Action Plan in 2017 placed emphasis on a new set of foci including economic diversification, tourism and infrastructure development. In late 2018 the government granted NZ $138 million of regional project support funds to support new cycle trails, expand tourism infrastructure, improve rail links and to improve digital connectivity, in line with its own national development priorities (MBIE, 2019a, b). While it is too early to comment on the outcomes of this initiative, it is apparent that there is gradual recognition, at least on the part of the regional economic governance group and the national Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment that a more diversified economy is essential. It is however apparent that the new foci do not accord with the wishes of all key roleplayers in the region and local leaders feel like they have been left out of decision-making processes (Key Informant 14, 2018). While the programme may lead to relatively modest support for tourism activities such as new cycle trails and promotional activity it is unlikely to catalyse deep-seated structural transformation of the economy or alter the locally embedded narratives of what drives the economy, as there has been limited engagement across a range of stakeholders about what the regional economy might look like in the future.

In population terms, since 1996, the region’s population grew by 6%– to reach a total of 32,148, while the national growth was 17% in the corresponding period. In terms of localised impacts, while the southern tourism towns such as Fox Glacier and Frans Josef grew by 23% and 67% respectively between 1996 and 2013, regional centres such as Greymouth and Westport lost 4% and 5% of their populations respectively, while former mining towns such as Blackball and Ross fell by 22% and 21% (StatsNZ, 1996, 2013). Hokitika by contrast, with its growing tourism industry and the expansion in the dairy products factory has experienced growth. These figures clearly show that despite the path dependency rhetoric the economic structure of the region has clearly changed. The service sector, tourism and agriculture are now the main employers representing a significant economic shift, even though this is in sectors which suffer from seasonality, low-waged and casual employment and volatile international demand. The low and often negative population growth and the poor economic performance, relative to the national average suggest that change to a new economic path has not been particularly successful. The creation of Development West Coast and the pursuit of new economic opportunities has met with mixed success and it would be difficult to say that the region has found a new economic mainstay. This reality and the remembrance of a more prosperous past may explain rigidities in local perceptions and governance and a path dependent attitude – perhaps more in perception than reality as expressed above. 5. Discussion In the West Coast of NZ restricted access to land for resource exploitation, and path dependencies anchored on the belief that the region’s economic development should remain the logging and mining industries continue to influence the regions plans for the future of its economy. This situation has also played out in the expression of grievances against the state and environmentalists. In addition, such antagonism and the associated limited pursuit of alternatives has probably exacerbated the failure to ‘break-out’ of past economic mindsets and accept both the need to diversify the economy and the reality that the economy has in fact diversified. The call to regain access to state land is deeply embedded in the region, as is hostility to the state which reflects both the challenges primary sector regions experience in the face of boom and bust cycles, their struggle economically and psychologically to break-out of path dependency and scape-goating of the state (Gunder, 2016; Van Assche et al., 2016). As Wilson and Memon (2005) argue, the tensions between productivist activities on the West Coast and post-productivist environmental preservation rationales have yet to be resolved. In terms of the degree to which the region is actually diversifying, despite the claim of the Regional Councillor who predicted ‘regional genocide’ if a new coal mine was not approved, the fact that there were only some 100 mining jobs in the region in 2018 does cause questions to be raised about the nature of mining, its current importance and its future in the region (Otago Daily Times, 2018a Otago Daily Times, 8 June 2018). Irrespective of the role of coal as an energy source in a climate constrained world on a global scale, the local impacts of the closure of smaller mines over time, a mining disaster in 2010 and the reality that, in terms of volume and logistics, the West Coast mines cannot compete on a global stage does raise questions about the future of the activity. While small gold mining operations remain, the employment base has changed significantly from the early 1900s when the region employed thousands of miners (Maunder, 2012). Land access to timber resources has been restricted and in contrast to what has happened elsewhere internationally (Ryser et al., 2019) and in New Zealand, local planning and land access is subject to national control which has increased local resentment. That said, over-riding national and global environmental climate change objectives do need to take precedence. While the economy has diversified it has been into

4.4. Key regional trends and outcomes of restructuring efforts Key employment and demographic trends in the region have included near static population growth levels in the region and significant demographic decline in almost all small towns, with the exception of small towns that are lucky enough to benefit from tourism growth. In employment terms, while there has been a hollowing out of employment in mining, state employment, and forestry, the service sector has grown significantly, particularly in the larger centres, which to some degree has compensated for losses experienced at the regional level but often not at the local level. Hence lock-in and failure to diversify in the face of denied access to land for resource exploitation has left many of the smaller mining and timber milling towns in a desperate economic situation. In economic and employment terms, the economy is not performing well, relative to the national average. From 2011-16 the regional economy grew by 1.1% compared to a national growth of 23.8%, with clear declines being noted in primary sector activities, but with gains in agriculture and manufacturing. The GDP contribution of forestry, fishing and mining peaked at some $340mn in 2009 but fell to $200mn in 2015 (StatsNZ, 2016, 2017). At a more refined level, in terms of employment, in 2010 forestry employed 199 people, fishing 97 and mining 1073, though mine closures caused this figure to plummet to an estimated 100 in total, with some 60 remaining in coal mining in 2018. This needs to be compared against the 2800 opportunities which now exist in tourism related activities and the 1787 in agriculture (Berl, 2010; Otago Daily Times, 2018a Otago Daily Times, 20 June 2018). 7

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activities which have not yet been able to replace the growth experienced in the pre-1980s productivist years. Growth in tourism and services in particular need to be capitalised on and more innovative, smart specialization options need to be considered (Rusu, 2013; Foray, 2016). There are clear trends which emerge from this study relevant for the future of land use planning in the region. First neo-liberal reform based on privatization of state assets has left a lasting negative impact marked by loss of state support and employment, and the region has lagged behind national averages in terms of economic growth. Local planning and land access controls through the Resource Management Act, common within the legal ambit in most local government areas in the country provides a highly decentralized approach to dealing with land use and land use conflicts. However, the West Coast is an exception, where central government has direct control over decisions regarding use of 83% of the region’s land. Despite this, calls for local land access for resource use remain a strong voice. This is in contrast to the situation in other countries where it has been noted that central states generally facilitate rather than obstruct access to land for resource exploitation (Ryser et al., 2019) that has often facilitated more placebased rather than resource sector-based development. Second, in terms of the support of development alternatives, the following, unfortunately, seems to remain true for many communities in the West Coast : ‘local initiatives in marginalised places … have only a small effect on the social and geographical inequalities generated by the processes of globalization and national restructuring’ (Scott and Pawson, 1999, p.193). While there are pockets of revitalization across the region, primarily linked to tourism development, these initiatives are highly uneven, which exacerbates inequalities on the West Coast. This unevenness is reflected in the differentiated scope, capacity and resources to engage in future-oriented land use planning that can maximize the potential of place-based assets that are ironically linked to the natural environment that has been preserved through the Conservation Estate. Thirdly, the degree of local innovation and the pursuit of postproductive alternatives in the region has been muted by rigidities in the form of path dependence in governance and thinking in the region associated with historical processes and economic thinking. This contrasts with the growing diversity of local and regional thinking and innovation which one is witnessing internationally in localities and regions (Markey et al., 2000; Blakely, 2010; Van Assche et al., 2016). In comparison to much new regional thinking that places greater emphasis on place-based development, regional collaboration, renewed sense of place and more normative and activist roles for local planners (Wheeler, 2002; Zirul et al., 2015), continued adherence to historical path dependence in discourse, if not in practice, has had the effect of displacing alternative visions of the future for the region and the way that the natural capital in the conservation estate might contribute to that future. Fourthly, the study shows the challenge which former resource dependent regions face in terms of adapting to a new context. Local efforts to diversify the economy through DWC and new regional activities have been rather lacklustre in their outcomes, reflecting continued path dependence, a failure to embrace new strategies and vision for the area and what might be deemed over-caution with respect to the use of DWC funds. Rather than a place-based focus of land use development, the focus on the West Coast remains tightly linked to sectorbased development that is more prone to capture by local interests. The failure to acknowledge the attributes of place that are in part derived from past, present and future land use decisions limits discussion of future development trajectories to issues of sector-based access and exploitation conflicts. These tensions have not yet been resolved. Despite this, the economy has slowly transformed, farming, tourism and services are now the dominant sectors and are areas which need further encouragement and support.

6. Conclusion The example of the West Coast illustrates the challenges that result when land use interventions operate in a governance vacuum. Since land use decisions were made externally to the region, there was limited local ownership of the changes or responsibility for the impacts of those changes. This reduced sense of agency reinforced a narrative of aggrievement that has prevented regional governance from evolving and path dependencies have by reinforced by neo-liberal policies (Van Assche et al., 2013). While the land use tools used to classify much of the West Coast as a Conservation Estate served to address the effects of forestry dependence (i.e. preservation of native trees), it did not address broader underlying resource dependencies; rather they were reinforced and rigidities created which in turn have narrowed policy options and debates. Due to the concentration problem (Van Assche, Deacon and Gruzmacher, this issue), a handful of actors with similar interests continue to dominate governance and decision-making in turn narrowing the capacity to envision an alternate future. This works to emphasize path-dependencies and to reinforce the strong narrative and institutional legacies related to land use controls imposed by Central government in the establishment of the Conservation Estate. As a result, discussions of land use change and the use of land use policies and tools are restricted to the impacts of the loss of access to resources, with limited ability to embed the preservation of natural forests as part of a larger process of transformation. Short-term and symptomatic responses to boom-bust cycles have served to amplify the negative consequences of social marginalisation, aging and declining populations in the region Continued dependence on resource exploitation is no longer viable – the market for coal has declined, and exploitative resource practises are no longer sustainable and acceptable in terms of global and national environmental targets. Post-productive activities must replace historic path dependent ones. Without greater diversity in local governance and decision-making and alternative actors gaining voice, the shift from resource-based economies to place-based economies will be challenging. However, the potential exists to broaden the scope of land use tools beyond a narrow focus on access to resources to include how they might stimulate new perceptions and views of place. Doing so could reveal and prioritize other local assets (e.g. the natural environment, social and human capital) that may be less susceptible to boom and bust cycles. There are encouraging signs that this is occurring. Current state supported efforts to diversify the economy need to be encouraged and to achieve this there needs to be greater local buy-in and local. Development West Coast needs to be reinvigorated to play a key role in economic diversification. Equally important is national and regional dialogue over environmental and climate change issues (Carbonniere, 2011), and recognition of the population and economic challenges of the region and how the region can be best supported. These external and internal forces have the potential to refocus conversations based on long-term and creative thinking and planning about resource management futures for the region in the context of climate change and environmental planning. Also important are discussions about options for alternate energy use and local education for sustainability. The region is rich in natural resources and rather than seeing them as a resource to exploit, their value as an asset to value from a conservation and touristic perspective deserves to be celebrated and promoted more effectively. The opportunity exists to be more forward looking, to embrace new opportunities and to create new narratives, while celebrating the past (Rusu, 2013; Foray, 2016). Broader strategic thinking about land, land use tools and future economic development for the region provides opportunities to think of assets differently, to re-prioritize those assets and to transform discussion about the future of the region to one that is focused more on place and less on resources for exploitation.

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Acknowledgement

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