Building trust
OPINION: The war of words between Southland farmers and Environment Southland over winter grazing inspections reflects a deep lack of trust among farmers for the regional council.
Federated Farmers RMA reform spokesperson Mark Hooper says the issue isn’t that the farmer organisation doesn’t want to see reform of the RMA, but that the reforms need to be done right to address issues of cost and complexity.
“The current legislation just ties farmers up in red tape, slows us down, and heaps on unnecessary costs – but the Government’s proposed reforms will only make that worse. It’s an absolute nightmare for farmers,” he says.
Hooper says Federated Farmers ‘strongly opposes’ the current reforms because they shift land use planning away from councils towards Regional Planning Committees, which he says will be at arm’s length from their local communities.
“We also have real concerns that the reforms will introduce new, vague and undefined concepts that will create huge uncertainty for landowners and likely lead to time and money wasted with legal challenges through the courts,” he says.
He says that instead of rushing to pass the legislation before the 2023 election, the Government needs to take its time.
“This is too important for them to get it wrong.”
“Any farmer worth their salt would tell them that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. The current reforms are fatally flawed, and they need to go back to the drawing board,” Hooper says.
The roadshow will kick off in Ashburton on Tuesday 30th May before continuing on to Alexandra, Gore, Invercargill, Masterton, Palmerston North, Whanganui, New Plymouth and Te Awamutu.
