Source: Federated Farmers
Proposed changes to resource management reform bills will cut much of the excessive, expensive and totally unnecessary red tape involved in farming, Federated Farmers says.
“The Government has clearly listened to farmers concerns with the initial drafting of the legislation,” Federated Farmers RMA reform spokesperson Mark Hooper says.
“Federated Farmers raised some serious concerns about the workability of the new planning system, but today’s announcements appear to address many of those issues.
“We’re welcoming this afternoon’s announcement as a positive step forward that will cut red tape, unlock investment, and help grow our export-led economy.”
Hooper says the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill represent a fundamental shift in the way New Zealand manages natural resources.
Agriculture is the major driver of the national economy so unnecessary red tape puts a drag on productivity, economic growth, and the income of every New Zealander.
“The Government’s changes will address some of the real world, on the ground challenges farmers have been grappling with under the badly broken RMA system.
“Having a resource management system that’s practical and easy to implement will help cut costs, improve productivity and grow the economy.
“It will also support the great environmental work farmers already doing, while removing the unnecessary cost, complexity and uncertainty of consenting processes.
“There’s plenty of good work going on out there, but unfortunately the system pulls the handbrake more often than it presses the accelerator.”
Federated Farmers are particularly pleased to see confusingly drafted resource cap provisions dropped from the proposed legislation.
“The resource caps aimed to describe the maximum amount of a resource that could be used before an environmental limit was breached,” Hooper says.
“This implied councils would set out caps on things like fertiliser, stock numbers or even the amount of land in pastoral production.
“Those are incredibly restrictive controls that would have been an absolute nightmare for farmers and rural communities to grapple with.”
Federated Farmers are welcoming a clarification that action plans are the primary mechanism for managing resource use when a limit is at risk of being breached.
“This is great news. Action plans allow the complexity of individual catchments to be addressed rather than just applying blanket regulations and hoping for the best.
“We’re also pleased to see our calls for unworkable ‘existing use’ provisions to be extended from six months to a much more practical 12-month period.
“In reality, farmers operate on a cyclical agricultural season, so an ‘existing activity’ often means something you did 12 months ago.”
Significant changes have also been made to the proposed goal of ensuring ‘no net-loss’ of biodiversity.
“That goal was unclear and risked land use targets put on farmers. Focusing on protecting significant biodiversity is much more pragmatic approach to take.”
Hooper says today’s announcement marks an important milestone in New Zealand’s resource management reform, but it’s only the halfway point in the process.
“The bills set out the framework, but we still need to work through the national direction and national standards,” he says.
“Newly established councils will then need to develop new policy and plans, which could take years to put in place.
“There’s a long road ahead before the system is up and running, but there are things the Government could do to speed up the benefits of these reforms.
“For example, they could pick up Federated Farmers’ policy of introducing 10 new national standards to make basic farming activities a permitted activity.”
The Government is due to release Amendment Papers for these proposed changes tomorrow, Thursday 20 August.
“Federated Farmers will be watching closely to make sure the reality of the changes lines up with the rhetoric – and holding them accountable if they don’t.”