Protect Ohai’s Views – Support Our Fight for Fairness, for our Views and for our Community Amenities
Fundraising for costs involved with getting promised community amenities and protecting our iconic views. For fairness wellbeing & dignity.
Ohai, Southland
Ohai Views Incorporated was formed because our town is facing the permanent loss of something irreplaceable — our views and our promised community amenities.
A commercial pine forest has been planted beside the town, just 100 metres from the boundary. If left unchallenged, it will block views of the iconic Takitimu Mountains and foreclose the recreational spaces our community was promised — bush walks, riverside trails, mountain bike routes and picnic areas.
Our immediate fundraising goal is to protect our views and secure these recreational amenities for Ohai before these opportunities are lost forever.
To do this, we urgently need funds to cover legal and professional advice, as well as the essential operating costs of the society. These costs arise from engaging with councils and government agencies, commissioning expert input, and keeping the community informed and involved through meetings, outreach, and public communications.
Without timely funding, our ability to act — and to be heard — is severely limited.
In the longer term, we aim to help establish walking tracks and recreation areas along the stream and elsewhere around Ohai. But first, we must stop decisions being locked in that remove these possibilities entirely.
Ohai Views Incorporated's involvement (page creator)
Ohai is a small Western Southland town with more than a century of coal-mining history. In 2012, an end-of-mine-life rehabilitation plan promised lasting benefits for the community: walking tracks, picnic areas, native planting, and public access along the Morley Stream. Residents were consulted, site visits were held, and we believe these commitments were written into official documents.
Those promises are now at risk.
The land was sold and, without community consultation, planted in commercial pine forest. The community has been left shocked and deeply disappointed. Alongside the loss of promised amenities, the forest introduces new risks — fire, wilding pines, pests, pollen, reduced sunlight, potential impacts on property values, and the loss of views to the iconic Takitimu Mountain Range.
Our volunteer committee has already invested many hours meeting with councils, MPs, and independent experts, uncovering gaps in process, missing oversight, and commitments that were never honoured. We have taken this as far as we can on goodwill alone.
Use of funds
Funds raised will be used immediately to cover:
* Legal and other professional advice
* Essential operating costs of Ohai Views Incorporated
* Engagement with councils, government agencies, and elected representatives
* Community communications, meetings, and outreach
Every donation directly supports our efforts to protect Ohai’s views, environment, and future — while there is still time to do so.
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