Farmers snub clean river accord

Federated Farmers has opted not to sign a high-profile commitment to clean up the Manawatu River, claiming that not everyone agrees it is in a poor state.

The federation's decision not to sign the Manawatu River Leaders' Accord yesterday has been criticised by environmentalists and described as "disappointing" by Horizons Regional Council.

The accord commits its signatories to developing "recommended" targets and time frames for improving the river's ecosystem. They are expected to be developed by March next year and implemented four months later.

The accord was signed by 16 groups, including DB Breweries, Fonterra and Palmerston North City Council, at a public ceremony on the banks of the river in Palmerston North yesterday.

Federated Farmers Manawatu/Rangitikei president Gordon McKellar said his group never indicated it would sign the accord.

Its next meeting was due on August 26, two days after an independent commission will publish its decision on the water management portion of Horizons' One Plan environmental management document, he said. "It would have been a bit hopeless, us signing the accord, if [One Plan] was going to send farmers broke anyway."

There had not been enough time for either the two affected provinces or the national board to ratify the document, he said.

Federated Farmers Tararua president John Barrow said his members took issue with a paragraph in the accord that reads: "We acknowledge that the community has concerns and has identified that the river is in a poor state." Mr Barrow said: "That paragraph is not factual ... It's a very emotionally charged paragraph and we need to get rid of all that emotional claptrap if we're going to do this process right."

He pointed to an independent survey, issued by Horizons last year, which said about 80 per cent of people would not avoid any river in the region.

Both Mr Barrow and Mr McKeller said Federated Farmers remained committed to the intent of the accord and would probably come on board eventually.

Horizons chairman Garrick Murfitt, who is also a life member of Federated Farmers, said the accord had no wording in it that would restrict farming. "The accord is simply an acknowledgement from the community that something has to be done. Exactly how will be worked out alongside One Plan."

He acknowledged the findings of the 2009 survey but said they were published before research from the Cawthron Institute showed that, under a system measuring oxygen changes in water, the river was the unhealthiest among 300 across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

That report made the public more aware of the river's water quality and caused the Government to call for something to be done, he said.

Burt Judd, of the Water and Care Association, one of the accord's signatories, said Federated Farmers had let down those that signed the document.

"They had four months of sitting around a table with us to sort themselves out ... we've never said we would lay all the blame at the feet of the farmer."

He was now more concerned about the discussion to come before finalising a plan to improve the river, but was not prepared to give up on the process, he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News