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Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes a recent court decision which granted a stay on rules in the Southland Water and Land Plan until legislative changes can be made by government.
Following earlier court decisions, the plan would have required more than 3,000 Southland farmers to apply for an expensive resource consent to continue farming.
“Delaying legal processes until the Government’s proposed amendments to the RMA can be made is a pragmatic decision,” says Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick.
“Requiring 3,000 local farmers to get a resource consent would have been nothing short of an impractical and expensive box-ticking exercise for absolutely no environmental gain,” Herrick says.
He says this would have been a significant cost for most farmers, ranging between $10,000 and $30,000 each, to continue day-to-day farming activities.
"We’re really pleased common sense has prevailed this week and farmers won’t need to waste their time or money jumping through bureaucratic hoops for no reason."
"The activist groups who initially brought this case, like Fish & Game and Forest & Bird, should be hanging their heads in shame," Herrick says.
"All they’ve done is stir up a whole lot of angst and uncertainty in our rural communities and I don’t think they’ve taken any accountability for that.
"Thankfully the politicians have listened and delivered a solution, and the court have put this stay in place so no more time or money is wasted while the law is being changed."
According to the latest Federated Farmers banking survey, farmers are more satisfied with their bank and less under pressure, however, the sector is well short of confidence levels seen last decade.
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The Government has announced it will immediately roll over all resource consents for two years, with legislation expected to pass under urgency as early as this week.
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