Otago water plan appeals resolved
The appeals of Federated Farmers and others on Otago Regional Council’s Plan Change 6A (Water Quality) have been
constructively resolved for farming and the environment.
“Otago Regional Council’s Plan Change 6A is now a reality,” says Stephen Korteweg, Federated Farmers Otago provincial
president.
“On paper, at least, it offers a roadmap for maintaining or improving water quality in Otago. Now the hard work of
implementing the plan begins.
“The initial plan was notified in 2012 and Federated Farmers, alongside a number of other parties, appealed the
Council’s decisions to the Environment Court. The aim was to flesh out how the policy would work on-farm and how
enforcement would be carried out.
“As part of the appeal process there’s a thing called mediation and from that we’ve achieved some positive changes.
“For other regions looking at how to approach a water plan, Plan Change 6A may provide them with a pragmatic template.
In our view, it’s nothing like the prescriptive or confusing plans we see going on elsewhere and that is of credit to
Otago Regional Council and everyone involved.
“While Plan Change 6A is not necessarily farmer friendly, it is a workable plan which will achieve results and the word
result is one that farmers understand,” Mr Korteweg concluded.
Federated Farmers North Otago provincial president, Richard Strowger, acknowledges the resolution does not make it easy
on farmers but it shows how farming is prepared to play its part in improving water quality.
“Farmers will be doing all we can to control what comes off our farms,” Mr Strowger continued.
“There are three prohibited activities applying immediately. This includes the discharge of effluent, silage or compost
to waterways and the discharge of ‘objectionable’ matter and sediment discharges from disturbed land, where there’s been
no attempt at mitigation.
“There are also water quality thresholds and standards applicable from 2020.
“On these, Federated Farmers has worked hard to get realistic timelines so farmers need to understand what these mean to
their own operation.
“We are pleased to see Otago Regional Council is updating its website to provide further information, particularly
around the prohibited activity rules. This will also include information about on-farm water quality testing.
“Council is also planning a series of information meetings throughout the region over the next few months. Federated
Farmers will be actively promoting these to our members.
“A large amount of work will now go into implementing the plan and providing farmers with real-world advice on how to
meet the new thresholds,” Mr Strowger concluded.
Ends