Source: Federated Farmers
Federated Farmers are slamming a recent court decision that would require more than 3000 Southland farmers to apply for a resource consent just to continue farming.
“This impractical decision is a total disaster for Southland farmers and lacks any common sense,” Southland Federated Farmers spokesperson Bernadette Hunt says.
“If 3000 local farmers were to all apply to Environment Southland for a consent at the same time it would completely overload the system.
“It would become an expensive and bureaucratic box-ticking exercise that adds nothing but cost and complexity for farmers, for no environmental gain.”
Hunt says decisions like this show just how deeply broken New Zealand’s resource management laws have become.
“The Resource Management Act has gotten so far away from its original purpose and intent. It was supposed to be enabling, but it’s become overly complex and restrictive.
“The entire process has been hijacked by environmental activist groups like Fish & Game and it’s now almost impossible to do anything productive.”
Hunt says piecemeal, one-off changes drip-fed from the courts over the last 30 years, rather than systematic improvements, have just added cost and complexity.
“The Government are currently in the process of replacing the Resource Management Act, which is welcome news and long overdue, but that’s a longer-term solution.
“In the short-term, farmers are still stuck farming under the current rules that have become completely unworkable and unaffordable.
“We need a practical, commonsense solution to bridge the gap between today and whenever our new resource management laws arrive.”
Federated Farmers is working closely with both the Government and Environment Southland to make sure that happens.
