PC1 Pause Looms as Coalition Targets Waikato Farm Rules
A pause on Waikato Regional Council's (WRC) plan change that sets new freshwater rules for farming could be announced in the coming weeks.
Most farmers will know Variation 6 confirmed the requirement that all dairy farms taking more than 15 cu m of water per day for milk cooling and shed washdown purposes require a resource consent. Most will also know they have until January 1, 2015 to take advantage of the special 'grandparenting' rules made available to them in the Variation.
However, as a way of keeping the costs to a minimum, the council is progressively going around the region to encourage farmers within the same catchment to make their applications at the same time. The aim of this is to process similar applications together which should keep the costs down.
Prior to Christmas, the council spent time in the Waihou catchment engaging with farmers there and the next stops are the Lower Waikato and West Coast catchments. Farmers in these catchments are being written to by the council asking that they get their new water take consent applications in by March 29, 2013.
"The March 29, 2013 date is the cut-off time established for the Lower Waikato and West Coast catchments for receiving applications for group processing," says Variation 6 implementation manager Amy King.
"By receiving applications from certain areas at the same time we can group similar applications and process them together to reduce costs to the individual farmer."
To help farmers understand the process and for help in completing consent application forms, three drop in days are being held:
February 28 – Tuakau Memorial Hall, 72 George St, Tuakau, 10am-30m
March 4 – Matangi Hall, 482 Tauwhare Rd, Matangi, 10am-3pm
March 6 – Huntly Memorial Hall, Wright St, Huntly, 10am -3pm
More information is available at www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/watertakes or call 0800 800 402.
Information on smart water use is available at www.dairynz.co.nz/smartwateruse
