Plan change is 'data gathering'

The Waikato Regional Council’s proposed plan change on the Healthy Rivers Wai Ora Waipa and Waikato River Catchments“is more like data gathering,” says the council’s science and strategy director Tracey May.

There will be some initial reductions in nitrogen emissions for high emitters, followed by the development of a new a new system further down the track once council has all the information to make the decision, says Tracey.

She is responding to statements made by Farmers For Positive Change – or F4PC – a group highly critical of the plan change proposals that it describes as “grandparenting”.

“So the aim in the first 10 years of the plan is to basically hold the line and better understand what’s happening with nitrogen loss to waterways from properties in particular. Then we can use that information to decide on future plan changes,” says Tracey.

“That’s where establishing a nitrogen reference point for properties comes in. It establishes what’s happening now and requires high emitters to drop their levels.

Past discharge

“So this nitrogen benchmarking is not grandparenting in disguise. Grandparenting is a method of allocating property level limits, by using past discharge levels as the basis for deciding users’ levels in the future.”

F4PC chair Rick Burke says the council talking of “holding the line” in controlling nitrogen leaching for 10 years has created a serious negative culture by sending signals that threaten the future of farming families and rural communities.

F4PC is advocating for a natural capital approach and believes scientists will work to formulate science-based solutions, which will result in the desired positive outcomes.

However, council is not sure that will work. “It’s great to see Farmers for Positive Change talking of support for ‘a natural capital approach’ and that it believes ‘scientists will work to formulate science based solutions which will result in desired positive outcomes’,” says Tracey.

“The Collaborative Stakeholders Group identified similar potential for such solutions. But at this stage we haven’t got the information, records and science to go straight to that sort of approach and apply on-farm limits to various activities.

Best way forward

“We find it really positive that farmers are keen to see science developing solutions to the likes of reducing nitrogen discharges and working overtime to protect our rivers. That’s a great signal that we can work together to get things right. We really want to hear people’s views on the best way forward,” says Tracey.

“We support Rick’s comment about people making individual and collective submissions. It’s good, too, to see alignment between outcomes sought by the council and the Farmers for Positive Change group.”

Rick says hill country drystock farmers will be among those hardest hit – and F4PC wants council to be honest with farmers and tell them now which properties it wants taken out of farming and planted in trees.

Stripping equity

“What’s happening now is stripping the equity of these farms by stealth. Farmers have to be told now what the long-term plan is and council must put in place exit plans and compensation based on the value of the land before Plan Change 1. If this is not addressed now, in five or 10 years it will be too late.”

Rick says F4PC is not against the vision of Wai Ora Waipa-Waikato. “We embrace the vision, but not the mechanism to achieve it currently proposed in the healthy rivers plan.”

His group is proposing instead land environment plans based on sub-catchments that would encourage entire rural communities, along with industry bodies such as Beef + Lamb and DairyNZ, to work together to identify which waterways need attention and take measures to clean them up.

“This might involve, communities and farmers building wetlands, or farmers with adjoining land agreeing to co-operatively plant some of it in manuka for honey production. There are examples in New Zealand, including at Raglan and Rerewhakaaitu as well as in Chesapeake Bay in the United States where such community plans have been very effective in improving water quality.

“It can work in the Waikato too.”

An 80-year target

In fact, Rick believes such a plan will achieve the Healthy Rivers plan goals in a much shorter timeframe than its 80-year target – and will do so while retaining the economic, environmental and social values of farms and rural communities.

F4PC now has more than 1000 farmers on its database and at a meeting in Te Rapa on October 10 it received a unanimous mandate from those attending to advocate for their interests and aspirations on the Healthy Rivers Wai Ora Waipa and Waikato River Catchments’ Plan Change 1.

However, Rick is urging farmers to make individual written and in-person submissions on the plan change as it will be their stories and the weight of numbers that will influence council and if not, then the Environment Court, to make changes to the plan.

Plan Change 1 has now been publicly notified by the Waikato Regional Council, and farmers have until 5pm on the March 8, 2017, to submit on the plan.


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