Volume One 14. Use of the Rural Environment 14. Use of the Rural Environment Introduction Marlborough’s rural environments can be broadly grouped into several distinct areas: the Rai and Pelorus catchments, the Wairau Plain, the southern valleys of the Wairau Plain, the Wairau Valley, the Awatere Valley and the Ward/Flaxbourne areas, high country areas and rural areas within the coastal environment, including in the Marlborough Sounds and along the south Marlborough coast. The characteristics of each of these areas are described below. The Pelorus and Rai areas are comprised of steep to moderately steep hill country. Land in the upper Pelorus River catchment is mostly indigenous forest, while in the lower catchments a more modified environment exists of exotic forestry, scrub and pasture. A substantial number of Marlborough’s dairy farms are based within the Pelorus and Rai catchments. With its flat land and alluvial soils, the Wairau Plain around Blenheim is the most intensively developed rural area of Marlborough. The environment here is highly modified, the subject of an extensive flood management and drainage system that benefits some 10,000 hectares of productive land. Favoured by mild climatic conditions, close to centres of population and water resources, a wide range of land uses have developed on the Wairau Plain, including viticulture, horticulture, tourist facilities, rural industrial activities, traditional livestock farming and the farming of crops and other intensive farming enterprises. Many people in this area live on small rural lifestyle blocks. Within this environment are located the airports of Blenheim and Omaka servicing the District nationally and regionally. The Southern Valleys of the Wairau Plain are a mixture of valley floors and ridgelines separating the Omaka, Benmorven and Brancott valleys. The valleys generally comprise smaller land parcels related to lifestyle blocks, but also contain viticulture, boutique wineries, other crops and homestays. The Wairau Valley comprises flat land extending up and into other valleys bordering the Wairau Plain – namely the Taylor, Tuamarina, Kaituna, Onamalutu, Waihopai, Branch and Leatham valleys. A significant river system, the Wairau, runs through the valley, into which the tributaries of the Waihopai, Branch, Tuamarina and Onamalutu drain. Land use is predominantly pastoral, but forestry is evident on the hills on both sides of the valley. Towards the top of the valley there are extensive areas of conservation estate, as well as on the Richmond Range. Further south, the Awatere Valley and Ward areas have historically held a strong pastoral farming focus. However, in recent times this area has been distinguished by contrasting land use pressures. On the one hand, these areas are vast and relatively isolated from major centres of population, with the dominant and traditional land use being pastoral farming, producing wool and meat. In other areas there has been a significant conversion of land from pasture to viticulture and other horticultural activities. There have also been pressures for rural lifestyle living. In Marlborough’s high country (areas more than 1,000 metres above sea level) extensive pastoralism has been the predominant land use activity. The relative isolation, topographical and climatic limitations of hill country areas means that pastoralism is likely to remain the major land use activity in the future. Significant parts of Marlborough’s rural environments lie within the coastal environment. The most extensive of these areas is in the Marlborough Sounds. While much of this land is in public ownership and managed by the Department of Conservation, there are also significant areas in private ownership. The areas in private ownership have been extensively modified from the original vegetation cover to allow for pastoral farming and exotic forestry. Today many farms 14 – 1