It’s welcome “breathing space” for everyone, and a chance for Horizons Regional Council to run genuine consultation, Ben Fraser says.
That’s how the Federated Farmers Whanganui president sees Horizons’ decision to abandon bringing in new freshwater provisions under its One Plan by December 2024.
“It means there’s one less stress on local farmers’ minds while some product returns are low and purse strings are tight.
“More importantly, the decision means there’s an opportunity to get it right, and bring in a freshwater plan change that works for the environment, and the community and economy,” Fraser says.
“Horizons need to leverage the knowledge of those who live on the land, work constructively with catchment groups and the wider community when setting values, and come up with solutions tailored to different areas and circumstances.”
The Government is reviewing, and intends replacing, the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. To enable councils to incorporate these new directions, it pushed out the deadline for councils to bring in freshwater plans until 2027.
Horizons last month announced it will take advantage of this and delay implementing the One Plan freshwater plan change until late 2026/early 2027 – “earlier if practicable”.
The Horizons’ decision – albeit belated – is a victory for common sense, and advocacy by Federated Farmers and others, Federated Farmers Manawatū-Rangitikei president Ian Strahan.
The council says it’s “highly unlikely” it would have been able to meet its previous December 2024 target, not least because of the economic modelling and social impact assessment work still to be done.
“The reasons they’re now citing are pretty much the arguments Federated Farmers have been advancing for several years,” Strahan says.
“We’ve repeatedly told Horizons they need to pause, slow down the process and gather robust information.
“We’ve also been saying they need to land on practical rules and targets that balance economic and environmental wins.”
Horizons’ draft water quality targets required 50-100% reductions of nitrogen, phosphorus, E. coli and water-borne sediment across the region – blanket rules that Federated Farmers describes as unrealistic and unworkable, requiring significant cuts to production.
“Farming makes up over half the economic activity of the region. If we kneecap ourselves economically, the environment will also suffer,” Strahan says.
“If you pull the rug on farmers’ revenue, you’re pulling the rug on their ability to invest in planting, waterway protection and the like.”
Horizons’ boundaries also take in Tararua and much of the Ruapehu district. Federated Farmers Ruapehu president Robert Gray says it felt like the council was trying to drive out food and fibre production and change his district into a giant nature park for city residents.
“They took no account of local circumstances. There was no acknowledgement in terms of water allocation that 90% of river flows in lower Ruapehu are diverted out to Lake Taupo for hydro generation.
“Another example – one of the creeks above Taumarunui has a phosphorus rock heart. With the Horizons reduction target, anyone who farmed downstream might as well give up.
“Their hard and fast targets had no dispensation for different topography, geology or other catchment features,” Gray says.
Tararua Federated Farmers president Thomas Read says Horizons’ nutrient reduction targets and initial refusal to budge on implementing the plan by the end of this year had weighed heavily on farmers’ minds.
“This extra time, and Horizons’ statements about gathering robust economic data, will see a bit of normality restored, and farmers can get on with farming.
“We’ve been affected for far too long by the uncertainty all this has caused, with land sales being depressed because of the question marks the targets put on farming in our region.”
Read, who has two dairy farms with expired consents pending the new regulations, says he’s experienced these impacts himself.
He’s having to apply for renewals for effluent disposal six months in advance of expiry to try to ensure grandparenting of existing rights.
“There are some farmers who have been caught out in that regard in not having renewed fast enough for Horizons’ liking.
“Pushing out implementation of the freshwater plan change gives all parties time to get their ducks in a row, and to get it right on something that will work in the long run.”
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
