Editorial: Having a rural voice
OPINION: The past few weeks have been tough on farms across the North Island: floods and storms have caused damage and disruption to families and businesses.
Today’s announcement of the return of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill to select committee will be well received by our members, Federated Farmers RMA spokesperson Chris Allen says.
"This process has been very long and very drawn out, and I’m sure there are many Kiwis who’d been thinking this Government wouldn’t be able to get this done,” Allen says.
"So we congratulate Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith on his stickability on this issue.”
Feds will be watching with particular interest to see the detail in the proposed legislation around new provisions for enabling stock exclusion from waterways.
"This is a super hot topic for us. We are working with councils and our members all over the country on this issue,” says Allen.
"Ensuring the provisions are practical, workable and affordable will be a high priority for us.
"We’ll also be keen to see the proposals around requirements for councils to free up more land for housing.
"This is becoming an area of keen interest and concern for our members. Feds represents about 70% of New Zealand’s productive farming area.
"In my opinion government agencies need to make sure high quality soils and land isn’t sacrificed to housing, because we’ll never get it back.”
