Rita Angus country still under threat
Irrigators at Cass in North Canterbury are appealing a recent resource consent decision that went against them.
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An irrigator wanting consents to take water from Cass River in North Canterbury is appealing a recent resource consent decision.
The Waimakariri Basin high country area associated with a famous painting by Rita Angus is also where P&E Morrisson wants to disturb the riverbed and take water for its farm.
The company was recently unsuccessful when resource consent commissioner Richard Nixon declined consent to take water from Cass River because of the risk to water quality in nearby pristine Lake Grasmere and the affect on landscape values.
In 1936 Rita Angus depicted Cass railway station in Arthurs Pass inland from Christchurch, where the sole figure in the painting is dwarfed by the brown hills and nor’west clouds, highlighting the isolation and remoteness of the areas.
Peter Morrison, owner of several dairy farms in Canterbury, is behind the application to take water. He is the son of former Central Plains Water irrigation scheme’s Pat Morrisson.
Mr Morrisson junior owns Grasmere Station near Cass in the Waimakariri River Basin.
Chris Hutching
Tue, 16 Apr 2013
Tue, 16 Apr 2013
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Rita Angus country still under threat
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