MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Horizons welcomes report on One Plan

Horizons Regional Council welcomes the results of the recently released Nimmo Bell Report into the potential cost benefit and economic impact of the One Plan.

The study, commissioned by Dairy NZ, identified that the nutrient management provisions to be implemented by Horizons under the One Plan will have a neutral economic impact on the Tararua and Coastal Rangitikei areas of the Horizons Region.

Horizons Regional Council chairman Bruce Gordon is pleased with the results of the report.

“We have been listening to the community and have worked closely with them and industry leaders  to set these provisions, as we are committed to economic growth in our Region, while also being mindful of taking steps to improve our environment and in particular our water quality”, he said.

“It is pleasing to receive this report and to see that the provisions we will be implementing will not have an adverse economic effect on the Region.”

The study outlines three different scenarios around the One Plan’s nutrient management provisions as it applies to the dairy sector, with Scenario 3 (within system) most closely aligning with how Horizons will be implementing the nutrient management provisions. This scenario assumes that farmers will adopt management practices to reduce nitrogen leaching while maintaining production and profit.

“We can now take the results from this report and use it as a guideline to work with the industry to implement the One Plan in a practical and supportive manner,” Mr Gordon said.

The Tararua Community Economic Impact Society was formed by the Tararua community who were concerned about the potential economic consequences of the original nutrient management provisions within the One Plan.

Group spokesperson and Dannevirke dairy farmer Russell Phillips said the Society initiated and facilitated interaction with business owners, employees, service providers, bankers, professionals and farmers of Tararua whose voices were pivotal in achieving logical change and logical implementation of nutrient management provisions.

“The Nimmo Bell report was a necessary and supportive document to substantiate these economic and social effects on the Tararua as there was concern that these effects could have been potentially devastating,” Mr Phillips said.

“The Regional Council should have done more economic analysis earlier in the Plan development, so it is very pleasing to see that Horizons has had a change in its position in their accountability to the community and ongoing community collaborative approach. We have been encouraged by the engagement achieved with Horizons in the process.

“Environmental responsibility is considered crucial both with our farming enterprises and communities. Working together cohesively provides the best opportunity to achieve the results we all need.

“Given the adoption of Scenario 3 from the Nimmo Bell Report, the Tararua Economic Impact Society endorses the Horizons implementation plan as a positive way forward for the economic future of Tararua and for continuing to improve the river environment.”

Meanwhile Dairy NZ has welcomed the opportunity to work in partnership with the Council on this key economic issue for the Region.

“Dairy farmers, through Dairy NZ, helped fund the work because it was important to have robust facts and figures, based on actual farming data, to inform the report and help the council with its decision making,” said Rick Pridmore, Dairy NZ’s Strategy and Investment Leader for Sustainability,

Mr Gordon also outlined that improvements in water quality will also be achieved by changes in wider industry, in particular focusing on point source discharges.

“We are working with territorial authorities and industry to reduce their impact on water quality in our Region, with territorial authorities already investing $30 million to remove their discharge from rivers at low flows.”

The nutrient management rules in the One Plan will take effect from July 2014 to July 2016. Council staff will be working with farmers well ahead of these dates and they will have six months to apply for a consent from the date their catchment comes into effect.

ENDS

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