One of the proposed dairy farm development sites south of
Omarama. Photo by Linda Robertson.
Opponents of intensive dairy farming in the Omarama and
Ohau areas were yesterday claiming a victory, but warning the
war was not yet over.
Southdown Holdings Ltd, Williamson Holdings Ltd and Five
Rivers Ltd, which had plans to develop 16 new dairy farms
with up to 17,850 cows, confirmed on Thursday night they hade
decided to withdraw resource consent applications to store
and discharge dairy effluent on three properties they own or
have contracted to buy.
• Developers say plan 'world
class'
The companies, which say they have already spent $4 million
in clearing the land and on hearings and scientific analysis,
said the $3 million cost of going through a board of inquiry
Resource Management Act (RMA) process, without knowing
whether they had water for irrigating the farms and diluting
the effluent, was too much of a risk.
However, if water is granted, the companies could still
reapply for the effluent resource consents. That prompted
opponents yesterday to warn the developments may not yet be
over.
Omarama Residents' Association chairman Bill Gordon was not
surprised by the withdrawal of the effluent applications.
The people in Omarama he spoke to yesterday were "quietly
relieved" the potential threat to established tourism income
had "gone for the meantime".
"If the alternative for the developers is some form of
farming traditional to the area, such as sheep, beef and some
crop, then that seems acceptable. The nutrient output to the
environment from that is a sustainable fraction of that from
dairying," he said.
Omarama farmer and North Otago Federated Farmers high country
representative Simon Williamson was not surprised by the
companies' decision.
"I always felt it [the development] wasn't going to happen.
They did not do the science robust enough to warrant getting
consents," he said.
The RMA process had been "really good".
"That's what it is there for, to make sure people don't do
something wrong. Once something is done, it is difficult to
undo it. Everyone has the chance to put their case forward,"
he said.
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