Despite the inexorable growth of Auckland and the loss of more than 10,000ha of highly productive land in the process, Bhana’s family has managed to keep it land operating as it has always been, growing high-quality, sustainably produced produce for Auckland city and much of New Zealand.
“These soils have been producing for over 100 years and the crops we get now are better than they have ever been,” he said.
“At certain times of the year, usually around late October, we will be not only supplying Auckland but also sending a truck and trailer unit south six days a week to the South Island.”
The passionate grower is adamant the further loss of Auckland’s high quality soils will be deeply regretted in the near future, such is their rarity and the inability of other areas to produce crops to the same volume or frequency.
“A lot of people think we can just lose the soil here and simply go and grow the same crops elsewhere but it’s not that simple.
“We have land at Onewhero (north Waikato) that can support only one crop a year because the soil is lighter.
“Up here, in two years we can grow five crops worth of production against only two on that land.”
He and fellow growers lobbied Auckland City Council hard to have the soils protected when the super city was formed and managed to get an undertaking in the unitary plan to have 3000ha protected from building.
“But that really only lasts as long as the first stage of the plan. There are no guarantees.
“We have the next generation coming through our business and we opposed Auckland City’s efforts to put our area into a housing zone. But now we face the prospect of being ring-fenced in with houses.”
And he is uncertain how definitive the protection afforded under the Unitary Plan is in reality.
“I know of one grower who has 3ha in subdivision and the rest is still in vegetable cropping.
“It seems there is not much to stop him challenging in the Environment Court over the legality of having his remaining land protected. And if he won, then you will see others whose land is supposedly protected go the same way.”
Bhana’s family has already lost assorted lease blocks around Pukekohe as owners have opted to cash up for as much as $1 million a hectare to housing and industrial land developers.
He wholly supports efforts by Horticulture NZ to push for a national policy statement (NPS) to protect versatile, high-value soils.
“With an NPS it will not matter what Auckland City may wish to do in the future, that land is protected at a national level. My problem, though, is I really do not know if the ministers concerned have the guts to do it.”
Bhana said the growing separation between consumers and their food source only exacerbates the challenge of trying to build support to have Pukekohe’s valuable soils protected long term.
“People don’t know where their food comes from so it becomes difficult for them to understand the value of protecting the soils that grow it.”
Claims growers could move out and south into Waikato are invalid, not only because of the less productive soils there.
“Under Plan Change 1 in Waikato, which looks like it will go through, you cannot change to a different land use type any more so that’s not an option and it’s likely such a plan change will come in across the country.
“The inevitable outcome is we won’t have enough land up here to grow on. You can’t grow it elsewhere so we, as a country, will have to start importing our vegetables – do we really want to be eating Chinese sourced vegetables?
