Hoggard slams outdated farm regulations
"We're trying to get to the promised land but we're still in a bit of a swamp at the moment."
Environment Canterbury says it is pausing the development of its Regional Policy Statement following changes in government direction on freshwater management.
New legislation introduced in October states that Councils cannot notify freshwater planning instruments for public consultation before 31 December 2025 or until a new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management is introduced.
Councillors have also voted to engage with Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds to clarify if there is a pathway to notify its Plan Change 8 prior to January 2026.
Plan Change 8 would enable decision-making following the Supreme Court decision in the Cloud Ocean Water Limited v Aotearoa Water Action case.
The court found that the Resource Management Act did not require take and use to be considered conjointly in all cases and take and use do not need to be considered separately where a plan does not prescribe it.
Plan Change 8, Environment Canterbury says, aims to create a pathway for key infrastructure work that intercept groundwater to be able to apply for consent, even in fully allocated zones.
Environment Canterbury chair Craig Pauling says the decision to pause both the Regional Policy Statement and Plan Change 8 was tough.
However, he says that given the changes to the Resource Management Act already in place and with further changes signalled, councillors had decided it was prudent to put the work on pause.
“I’d like to thank all the staff for their work and the community for their engagement in this mahi to date and to reassure them that input will inform our future planning work,” Pauling says.
“We will continue to work with our communities to achieve the best outcomes for Canterbury/Waitaha.”
Newly elected Federated Farmers meat and wool group chair Richard Dawkins says he will continue the great work done his predecessor Toby Williams.
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
According to DairyNZ's latest Econ Tracker update, there has been a rise in the forecast breakeven milk price for the 2025/26 season.
Despite the rain and a liberal coating of mud, engines roared, and the 50th Fieldays Tractor Pull Competition drew crowds of spectators across the four days of the annual event.
Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.
Six industry organisations, including DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) have signed an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prepare the country for a potential foot and mouth outbreak.
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