Source: New Zealand Government
The Government has taken urgent action to prevent what could have amounted to a ‘stop work’ notice for thousands of New Zealand farmers, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, and Associate Environment Minster Andrew Hoggard say.
“Last month, Waikato Regional Council informed the Government that unless urgent changes were made to water discharge rules in the RMA, approximately 2,800 Waikato farms would require resource consents for on-farm activities,” Mr Bishop says.
“To be clear, these consents would be for routine on-farm activities that farmers have already been doing, often for years, without requiring a consent.
“The Waikato region generates 20% of the nation’s primary exports, with dairy farming supporting the employment of over 9,000 Kiwis in the Waikato alone. If we don’t act, the economic heart of New Zealand’s primary sector could grind to a halt under what would effectively be a ‘stop work’ order.
“Waikato Regional Council wasn’t the only council to raise concerns. Horizons Regional Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Tasman District Council and Environment Southland all requested further changes to water discharge rules as well.
“Therefore, we have made the decision to further amend the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill to broaden what water discharges can be allowed as a permitted activity.
“If Councils choose to use these permitted activity rules, we will still require them to show a pathway of continuous improvement in the quality of our water bodies.”
“Farmers are often the first to highlight the importance of cleaning up our waterways, and we need to allow them to take a common-sense approach improving water quality,” Mr McClay says.
“This is excellent news for not only farmers across the Waikato, but across New Zealand. The rules around water discharges are out-of-date and create legal uncertainty.
“Farmers need to be able to farm without worrying about costly, lengthy, and uncertain consenting processes hanging over their heads. New Zealand’s economic recovery relies on it.”
“Farmers and producers are leading New Zealand’s economic recovery after some very tough years. The Government is not willing to let their progress be tripped up by pointless red tape,” Mr Hoggard says.
The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill is due before Parliament’s Committee of the Whole House later today and is expected to pass into law during this sitting block.
