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FEDERATED FARMERS has slammed the Environment Court for the changes it’s made to Horizons Regional Council’s controversial One Plan. It warns dairy farmers could be forced off their land by some of the new rules.
The Environment Court last week released a 200-page judgment on appeals on the original One Plan. Farmers were by-and-large happy with what the independent commissioners came up with, but appeals by DOC and Fish and Game and others seem to have won favour with the court at the expense of farmers – dairy and sheep – and commercial growers.
According to the Federated Farmers Manawatu/Rangitiki president Andrew Hoggard, the Environment Court’s decisions have turned One Plan into something that will not improve the environment and is bad for everyone in the region.
Hoggard is a dairy farmer and played a key role in preparing Feds submissions to the council and later the court. He says one of the biggest problems with the plan as it stands is that it imposes a number of blanket standards – especially on nitrogen loss targets. Depending on what stance is taken by the council, he says, farmers could be forced off their land or find themselves hit by new costs as high as hundreds of thousands of dollars. Notice should have been taken of what’s practical on farm, rather than opting for some theoretical numbers, he argues.
“Unbelievably, a further section 42A report stated this cost was okay, because dairy farmers would spend the money in New Zealand on mitigation, rather than on overseas holidays and imported cars. In reality, many farmers will not be spending money anywhere because they will be bankrupt and heading either for the nearest Work and Income office or buying one-way tickets to Western Australia or Chile.”
Hoggard says the decisions by the Environment Court largely reverse the decisions of the independent commissioners who heard all the submissions on the draft One Plan. The court has brought the One Plan back to its unacceptable original state and it will adversely affect the region’s economy. Depending on how it’s managed by the regional council, farmers could be faced with more paperwork and a possible increase in the size of the bureaucracy to run the consent process for dairy farmers, he says.
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