Page 178 - Constructing Craft

culturally important, craftspeople discovered that rural councils, who had not

expected any form of industry to develop in their region, were unprepared for the
growth of the craft movement. Nonetheless, the requirement for craftspeople to

have a legal framework to operate in and the needs of other rural dwellers created a
mutually supportive arrangement between two, often disparate, communities.

Farmers and other rural dwellers largely welcomed the arrival of craftspeople and
their families as it increased the population, ensuring that schools remained open

and other facilities such as local shops could continue to operate. They often

supported changes to planning regulations as well. In 1981 for instance, the NZCC
Executive Director, Christine Ross, wrote to the Chairman of the Buller County

Council pointing out that the Council’s scheme did not contain provisions in either

the predominant or conditional use for craft enterprises and home occupations. Her
submission to the Council was supported by the New Zealand Small Farmers’
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Association and Federated Farmers. The Town and Country Planning Act of 1977
stipulated that all land must be zoned for residential, industrial or rural use ‒ any

deviation from permitted use, such as manufacturing in a rural zone, required a
specified departure from the scheme. The schemes that were produced by both

urban and rural councils were restrictive documents, varied widely between different

regions and lacked flexibility.

Craftspeople needed a national organisation that would lobby on their behalf, but
the CCNZ’s attempts to promote change were often limited in scope and

unsophisticated. For instance, at about the same time as Ross was writing to the
Buller County Council, she produced a list of reasons why the craft industry should

be permitted as predominate users in all zones and then advised: ‘Space does not

permit a full examination of all the issues. If you would like advice or more
information, please ask the Crafts Council, which is the national body of

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craftspeople.’ This approach may have reflected the urban-based administration
of the CCNZ or the increasing emphasis on promoting craft artists but it appeared to
lack commitment. The struggle to change planning regulations was often left to

individual craftspeople, or local craft groups who also had to meet the costs
involved. In Britain craftspeople had agencies that received government funding to

turn to. In New Zealand there were only the CCNZ or craft specific organisations
and the CCNZ’s response was not encouraging.

Constructing Craft