Furore as Kāinga Ora rules out wool carpets
State housing provider, Kāinga Ora’s decision to rule out the use of wool carpets in social housing has been described as a slap in the face by sheep farmers.
Southland Farmers will be breathing a sigh of relief that central Government is stepping in to stop Environment Southland from introducing unworkable and expensive new farming rules.
"This is a pragmatic, commonsense decision that will be well received by local farmers," says Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick.
"We’ve been asking Environment Southland to put the brakes on new freshwater rules for some time."
The council had agreed it would wait for the Government’s new National Policy Statement - Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) before notifying Plan Change Tuatahi but would push on to introduce other changes next year.
This week, the Government announced they will be amending the Resource Management Act (RMA) to give councils and communities more certainty when it comes to freshwater.
This change will restrict councils’ ability to notify new freshwater rules until the new NPS-FM is in place.
Herrick says it never made any sense for the council to be trying to introduce new water quality rules when they knew the Government was changing the national direction.
"That’s a waste of council resources, and ratepayers’ money."
Herrick says changes to NPS-FM signalled by the Government made it very clear to regional councils that they need to down tools and wait for further clarification on the national direction.
"This clarity will prevent needless duplication of effort, the wasting of council staff time, and possible confusion for farmers with constantly changing rules."
With the RMA amendment, council won’t be able to bring in freshwater aspects of any plan change until 31 December 2025 - unless the Government settles its new freshwater policy earlier.
Herrick says reality is that there has been already massive change to land use and management practices to better mitigate environmental effects in Southland.
"That won't stop because of this pause, and in fact it may give some breathing space to allow focus on practical, on-the-ground efforts that will make a difference for the environment, rather than getting bogged down in costly bureaucratic planning processes."
Herrick says farmers need rules that are fair and practical, but also an element of certainty so that they can make business decisions and get on with farming.
"Council should do it once and do it right, guided by national direction.
"We don’t need constant flip-flopping or shifting of the goal posts that undermines farmers’ confidence to invest in their businesses."
"What taking a little more time is likely to mean in practice is that we end up with much clearer and more consistent water quality rules that everyone in our community can support.
"From my perspective, that can only be a good thing."
Biosecurity New Zealand says test results to date from a small free-range layer chicken farm near Dunedin are negative for avian influenza.
ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby is describing the 2024-25 dairy season as ‘a cracker’.
How much shade and shelter do our sheep need in an era of more extreme weather and the lack of natural shelter on farms?
Fonterra has unveiled a net profit of $263 million for the first quarter of its 2024-25 financial year.
Biosecurity New Zealand has reported no signs of disease on other chicken farms operated by Mainland Poultry in Otago, however testing and monitoring work continues.
The Canterbury Growers Society will soon be seeking sponsorship for a new regional young grower competition, after an absence of several years.
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