Waikato Plan Change 1 litigation nears conclusion after 12 years
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).
An independent review has found Waikato Regional Council’s evidence gathering processes “appropriate, robust, lawful and up to date”.
It also says the council uses best practice when making enforcement decisions when investigations are finished.
In May this year the council started a review of how it investigated farmers’ non-compliance with the Resource Management Act and how it dealt with these malefactors. This was prompted by criticisms of the council’s enforcement actions.
The findings of the review panel, headed by Wellington solicitor Tom Gilbert and including farmers, iwi, regulators, transport and energy people, were last month presented to the council by Gilbert.
He told councilors that 1400-1500 potential or actual breaches of rules were dealt with each year. Formal enforcement action in response to these cases was “very low” as a percentage of the total. This represented a “conservative” approach, he said.
The size of fines handed down by the courts showed that judges were taking council initiated cases seriously.
“The council does enforcement really well,” Gilbert said. “It might not always be popular but that’s obviously not the point.”
Gilbert says the council’s investigative processes are nationally ‘leading edge’, comparing favourably with some other regulators. “The public should have confidence the right matters… are being prosecuted,” he says.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).