Federated Farmers is asking that regional councils be directed to pause implementation of freshwater regulations until the government’s new policy is introduced.
In its submission on the Resource Manager (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, the federation asks the government to direct councils to pause development of new regional freshwater policies and plans until they have seen the coalition’s policies.
Despite the new government clearly stating it intends replacing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FW), some regional councils, such as Otago, have implemented freshwater policies and plans based on the previous government’s policies.
“We are strongly concerned that regional councils continue to develop new plans under the NPS-FM that may be redundant before the ink is even dry,” the submission says.
“This needlessly wastes ratepayer money and creates uncertainty for rural communities.”
The federation’s submission on the Bill seeks exclusion of the water quality standard, Te Mana o te Wai, and of councils giving effect to the current hierarchy of obligations when considering resource consent applications, until the NPS-FM is replaced.
The federation says the current hierarchical process lacks balance between environmental, economic, social and cultural values, and, together with the resource management system, does not reflect the interests of all water users.
Removing the hierarchy will make resource consent applications simpler and cheaper to prepare.
The submission notes that councils such as ECan are interpreting consents under the NPS-FW as requiring consented activity to improve the health and wellbeing of any impacted water body whether it is degraded or not.
The way councils define these policies has further implications.
The proposed Otago Regional Policy Statement has encouraged local iwi Kai Tahu to seek the extension of this decision-making hierarchy across all aspects of the environmental consenting.
“Such a shift would impact all industry in Otago, including renewable electricity, ski fields, forestry, urban development and food and fibre production including horticulture and viticulture.”
The federation wants the removal of low slope map legislation that controls grazing access for cattle, deer and pigs, and the repeal of winter grazing regulations.
It submits that the NPS-FW maps are inaccurate and a poor proxy for managing livestock grazing.
“Our view is that farm plans are a better approach than a nationally applicable ‘blanket rule’ regime that does not account for catchment or farm-level differences.”
Councils can already manage the effects of winter grazing through regional plans, farm plans or through voluntary catchment groups.
For similar reasons it wants the requirement for councils to identify and notify significant natural areas (SNAs) suspended for three years.
On the West Coast, it states, almost 25,000 hectares have been identified as SNA, with some individual farms having 40-60% of their area included, while in the Far North, 283,000ha have been identified with some whole farms captured.
Instead of prioritising special and significant areas, the policy has dragged in wider areas, restricting land use and development, the federation says.
