Revised One Plan rules hardly too onerous

OVER THE FENCE

OPINION: Now that the dust has settled, a closer look at Horizons Regional Council's One Plan, as altered by a panel of independent commissioners, shows a big win for farmers.

Some draconian measures of the council's draft plan are gone - rules that would have threatened the viability of some dairy farmers and others that would have hampered sheep and beef farmers, and vegetable growers.

Farmers are breathing sighs of relief and, angered that they should have been put through so much anxiety, are in no mood to allow anyone else to portray them in a bad light.

They have taken umbrage at the wording in a Manawatu River Accord of almost 30 community leaders, set up to tackle the gargantuan task of cleaning up the river, and have retaliated with their own "People's Accord". Childish stuff, really, but an indication of how wronged they feel.

Regional council staff, too, must be quietly feeling some sense of achievement, despite their plan's emasculation by the commissioners.

Compared with the existing plan, the new rules go a long way to curbing the leaching of nitrogen into waterways that prompted the One Plan.

They felt farmers were dragging their heels over changing their habits and delivered a swift kick to their backsides.

It has had the desired effect. If they were not already, the farmers are now well aware of how strongly urban people feel about the state of their rivers.

The commissioners struck out contentious proposals aimed at forcing farmers on sensitive soils to reduce nutrient leaching.

Federated Farmers complained the soil classifications were based on decades-old data and did not recognise the improvements irrigation had brought to farms.

This would have left many dairy farmers with little choice but to drastically reduce herd sizes, forcing a severe income cut that would have reverberated through the community.

On the other hand, freshwater fish scientists, environmentalists, river users and Horizons staff argued that current restrictions on dairy farmers were not working and something tougher was needed if the river was not to be further polluted.

They will be disappointed. Despite data measuring the Manawatu River's ability to support life showing the river to be twice as bad as the next river on a test of 572 waterway sites in eight countries plus the European Union, the commissioners have watered down the council plan.

The sensitive soils areas - "priority catchments" - have been reduced from 11 to six, removing the most contentious, the sandy coastline from Foxton to Turakina.

Farmers in these six areas - which include dairying near Pahiatua, Woodville and Levin - must produce annual nutrient management plans for Horizons' approval.

They must use "reasonable, practical farm management practices" to minimise nutrient leaching. They must also fence off and bridge streams to prevent cows getting into waterways.

These rules are hardly onerous. Most are already in the Clean Streams Accord, an agreement between Fonterra, the government and regional councils dating back to 2003.

Those who will feel the heat of the revised plan are people planning new dairy farms anywhere in the Horizons region. They will have to meet tough new requirements designed to prevent nitrogen leaching.

Most of the best dairying land in the region is already being milked off, so this change will catch those considering bringing marginal land into production. Some of this will be land in the coastal sand strip, needing irrigation to be productive, or land bordering waterways. It is right that this be under close scrutiny.

This is one aspect of the plan that will be of interest to other regional councils. They closely followed Horizons' proposal to create one plan out of its six plans governing natural resources.

If others move to tighten controls on new dairying, the country could see a sudden curbing of the nationwide rush to dairy that has been evident since before Fonterra's big $7.90 payout two years ago. The growing numbers of people uncomfortable with the potential for environmental damage will welcome this.

Another significant change made by the commissioners affects sheep and beef farmers on the region's hills. The One Plan sought to reduce silt from eroding hillsides clogging rivers and wanted farmers to get a consent before clearing scrub from slopes of greater than 22 degrees.

The commissioners have altered this to 28 degrees, still an imposition for many farmers but not as restrictive or expensive.

Sheep and beef farmers and horticulture growers have also been removed from the restrictions on intensive farming on land near waterways, with their nitrogen and phosphorous leaching considered negligible.

Now to tackle the river pollution caused by others - local body sewage and business waste. That is what farmers will be looking for from the community leaders who have signed up to the river accord.

- © Fairfax NZ News