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As a newly appointed member, it has forced me to get off my backside and take a bit more of an interest in what’s really going on and all I can say is "wow".
I take my hat off to everybody within the industry who is up against the bombardment of new rules and regulations coming our way so thick and fast it is hard to comprehend, and without a lot of forethought on how these changes are going to affect the future of not just our small rural communities but New Zealand in general.
That said, I think Federated Farmers has done a great job stalling government and council so that we have time to process the changes and adapt them to better suit the situation. In some cases I would add the processes have been forced in with little or no democratic process.
The proposed new district plan changes and the new RMA are taking a bit of time to get my head around. Everybody is different, therefore the implications are huge and far reaching. I would encourage everyone to look at their own systems and situations and work out how this is going to affect you and what your planned outcomes are.
Winter grazing is also going to be difficult for some, given in the high country there is not a lot of area you could effectively crop and winter graze under the new rules without consent. I would imagine there will be a lot of people that fail the slope rule and need ongoing concessions to intensively graze stock.
I suspect this first year will be an educational time rather than an infringement period but how long before the council brings out the stick?
Feral animals (goats, pigs and deer etc) are becoming a problem again in a lot of areas, with numbers skyrocketing. The Department of Conservation (Doc) received new funding in Budget 2022 for deer management and goat control, the draft document "Te Ara ki Mua" was released in June 2022.
There is intent by Doc to create partnerships for the management of these animals, acknowledging that there are a range of values held about wild animals, and their management/control can only succeed if appropriate management is undertaken across wide areas.
There has been an ongoing issue recently with the Waitaki District Council in regards to obtaining burning consents and, to quote [North Otago high country farmer] Ian Anderson, “It seems that regardless of whether the land is freehold or leasehold, been oversown and top dressed for 50-plus years, an ecology report is required costing thousands of dollars, then a resource management consent costing more thousands of dollars is required.
"There seems to be a lack of practicality and a desire to make things as complicated and expensive as possible, presumably in the hope that people just give up and don’t do it!”
I would say he is dead right in the fact they are deliberately trying to deter as many people as possible and that mindset will flow on to other issues.
