Views, property rights and New Zealand land reform

Abstract

This paper argues that the right to view has matured far beyond its origins into a wider thing of scenic amenity. The antiquated limitations of the common law that denied view the status of property should be revisited. This reappraisal is all the more cogent given long standing precedent in the USA, the heightened place of the environment in property rights regimes, and the current turmoil over the 'Crown Pastoral Land Act' (1998) land reform on the South Island. We conclude that it is legitimate for the Crown to set a fee against a runholder with exclusive pasturage rights on Crown land for the use and enjoyment of the scenic amenity right.