Beyond the region ...

OPINION: The summer holidays are a good opportunity to reflect on the year past and apply a new perspective to current issues, writes Stuart Collie this week.

I am a media follower at the best of times and do not see my morning complete on holiday until I have scrutinised The Southland Times and Otago Daily by lunchtime.

The first I have delivered to the bach in Arrowtown, the second is part of the daily coffee service at Joe's Garage.

During busier periods there is usually only time to absorb the reports on topical issues or those that are of local concern, but during the holidays the wider community shows noticeably more interest in issues that don't have a direct effect on them. There is nothing wrong with this, but does highlight how perceptions can become clouded by distance or little understanding of the issue.

The current proposal for cubicle farming of cows in the Mackenzie Basin is a case in point. The consent application to Environment Canterbury will cover matters under its jurisdiction, such as water abstraction, effluent disposal and landscape values (subsequently now called in by the government).

The application has attracted hundreds of submissions, 80 per cent of which are concerned with animal welfare issues, over which Environment Canterbury has no control. Many of these submitters will have established their views by drawing parallels between cubicle barns and sow crates or caged chickens, the conditions of which are controlled under the Animal Welfare Act, and have little similarity to the proposed barn system.

Personally, I have some concern over the environmental and landscape effects in an area that has special values that would be lost under further development of the area.

Concerns expressed by Fonterra and central Government have more to do with concerns about international perceptions that could compromise the marketing value of grass-based pastoral farming.

The irony of the issue over animal housing is that it is a very desirable means of wintering cows off pasture, both for animal welfare and environmental effect. Cows wintered inside are not left standing in mud during stormy weather, and are not destroying the soil structure, as inevitably happens in those conditions.

There are several similar wintering facilities in Southland that can be shown to have considerable beneficial outcomes, and it would be very unfortunate if the distinction between housing for most of the year as proposed in the Mackenzie Country proposition, and the benefits that arise from wintering inside become confused. At Environment Southland we see the off-pasture wintering of large animals as a positive move.

Before Christmas we received a request from the Taupo District Council to follow its lead and ban the use of 1080 in our region.

The use of 1080 has been controversial for many years, but it is registered for use by the Environmental Risk Management Authority with conditions governing its use.

As a regulatory body charged with the responsibility for consent applications, I do not believe we (or any other council) have the right to arbitrarily ban the use of a substance that has been duly approved.

The evidence that supports its use is based on research, and has the support of the Animal Health Board, Department of Conservation and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.

In turning down the Taupo request, the council was accused of bias favouring the continued use of the toxin, but we are required to deal with all requests for consents with an open mind.

There are many in the community who are quite vociferous in their views, as I have personally experienced, and we listen to all submitters during the consenting process, but the ultimate decision on whether consent is granted, with conditions, has to be based on supporting science and evidenc eof potential effects.

» Stuart Collie is the chairman of Environment Southland.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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