EPA remains committed to deliver improved outcomes
OPINION: At the end of my first year as chair of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), I have been reflecting on the progress made in the time I have been in the role.
Barry O'Neil told Rural News the pressure that growers are facing is on many fronts, including a plethora of new government regulations. He says 2022 will be the hardest year the sector has experienced for many and the heat is on growers because of this.
"It's not just Covid, it's all the other issues that are building in respect to the environmental settings the Government wants to achieve," O'Neil explains. "There are shipping disruptions, labour shortages and rising costs on orchard as well.
"It's not just about change - this is about the amount of change and the speed at which this happening."
O'Neil says the amount of compliance that's been required of growers to conduct their businesses is overwhelming. He says many growers have had a gutsful of what's happening.
"They are starting to say, enough is enough. We can't stay in business if this is the way the Government is going to treat us, so they are looking at exiting the sector."
O'Neil says back three or four years ago, confidence within the horticulture sector was extremely high, with growers seeing a great future by producing a healthy product for which there was good demand from consumers. However, he says now confidence is low.
Given the low morale within the primary sector, O'Neil says the industry-good organisations and the Ministry for Primary Industries are doing their best to help farmers and growers. He says a stress point for many growers is that they can't get their heads around why they are being forced to do certain things by government.
"We have compliance costs and requirements that simply don't make sense," he explains. "Growers can't understand why their practical solutions to problems are not being taken on board by the politicians and bureaucrats."
Meanwhile, O'Neil says another big issue for growers is the ongoing loss of highly productive land, which is being sold for housing development. He says legislation is in the pipeline to protect high-quality soils and HortNZ is working with the Government to help achieve this.
