Green but not much grass!
Dairy farmers in the lower North Island are working on protecting next season, according to Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre, who farms just north of the Horowhenua township of Levin.
The programme details a new independent standards system to measure the performance of local authorities.
Federated Farmers spokesperson for local government Katie Milne says it's crucial for farmers, rural communities, and for New Zealand that local government provides value for money.
"Overall Federated Farmers believes this initiative should be very helpful and over time improvements can be made to the programme to enhance performance," says Milne.
"We think further improvements can be made by including more 'outcome' related indicators as opposed to process indicators, a beefing up of the indicators for service delivery, and the inclusion of measures on rates and spending from a ratepayer perspective.
"The Excellence Programme is a great start as it will encourage councils to be more efficient and effective and to adopt best practices."
Under the programme, ratepayers and communities will now have the ability to assess how their councils are doing, including comparing them.
"Federated Farmers challenge all councils to get on board," says Milne.
"We're always keen to engage with councils and will shortly be putting out our own guide for best practice: our three-yearly Local Elections Manifesto."
