Government Mulling Plan Change 1 Intervention

Agriculture Minister, Todd McClay told the Primary Industries NZ Summit in Auckland this morning that he met with Minister responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop yesterday “to make the case for Waikato farmers”

“It doesn’t make sense to have a new national planning system adopted by parliament before the election but for the Waikato to be sentenced to rules that were developed under the old system.

“He (Bishop) will instruct officials to prove advice on options to better align rulemaking in the Waikato with the replaced RMA," says McClay.

Waikato Plan Change 1 Nears Completion

The final Environment Court decision on Waikato Plan Change I (PC1) was released this month. The court gives Waikato Regional Council until 21 July to make 20 specific changes before the plan will be finalised.

The process to develop PC1 began in 2012 and has been tied up in endless submissions, hearings, and appeals ever since.

Federated Farmers Calls for Immediate Pause

Federated Farmers wants the Government to urgently press pause on PC1 until the dust has settled on major national policy reforms.

"This will be the most significant rule change ever seen by farmers in the Waikato and Waipā catchments," says Waikato Federated Farmers president Chris Woolerton.

"There are huge restrictions and compliance requirements being placed on Waikato farmers that will totally change the nature of farming in the region.

"Plan Change 1 will add cost, complexity and duplication, with thousands of farmers needing both a resource consent and a gold-plated farm plan just to keep farming."

Uncertainty Continues During National Reforms

Woolerton, a Taupiri dairy farmer, wants to see the plan change paused until there’s clarity on resource management, local government and farm plan reforms.

"These new farming rules are completely at odds with the Government’s direction of travel and vision for the country," he says.

"On one hand we have a government saying it wants to cut the cost and complexity from farming by overhauling local government and the RMA.

"But on the other hand, we’ve got a binding court decision pushing in the opposite direction, bringing in very prescriptive farming rules with huge compliance requirements."