Hearing today on Mackenzie water-take consent process

Factory-dairy farming consents for the Mackenzie Basin should be decided before the three firms' water-take consents are considered, the Canterbury Aoraki Conservation Board says.

The Government last week "called in" dairy-effluent consents from Southdown Holdings, Five Rivers and Williamson Holdings, referring them to a board of inquiry headed by Environment Court Judge Jane Borthwick.

An Environment Canterbury-appointed panel will today hear arguments over whether the three companies' water-take consents can be considered separately to the board of inquiry process, which is expected to take up to a year.

Conservation board chairman Steve Lowndes said there was mounting concern about the scale of the proposals, and the applications should be considered "one step at a time".

More than 5000 public submissions have been received on the plan to house nearly 18,000 cows in sheds fulltime for eight months a year, creating effluent discharges of 1.7 million litres a day.

The three firms have been allotted almost three hours to speak and reply today, while submitters will be heard for 45 minutes and the regional council for the same period.

Submitter Jenny Howey, of the Blue Family Trust and neighbour of Glen Eyrie Downs, said the whole process should be discussed with Environment Minister Nick Smith.

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