Govt told to 'call in' dairy requests

The Environment Commissioner wants the Government to "call in" planned large-scale dairying operations in the Upper Waitaki because of the risk to the area's water quality.

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright has written to Environment Minister Nick Smith asking him to call in the resource consent applications for effluent and air discharges for which farming companies Five Rivers, Southdown Holdings and Williamson Holdings have applied.

"I am particularly concerned about the effect of these dairying operations on the water quality of the Ohau and Ahuriri catchments," Dr Wright said.

"The combined effluent of these operations would be similar in quantity to a city the size of Christchurch being located in the Mackenzie Basin."

A recent report by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research suggested that if the nutrients entering Lake Benmore were to substantially increase, the water quality of the lake and lower Waitaki River were likely to seriously deteriorate.

In her report Change in the high country: Environmental stewardship and tenure review, the Commissioner recommended the Minister call in development applications that are proposals of national significance due to their potential for significant adverse effects on lakes or outstanding landscapes in the high county.

"These proposed dairy farms are just the kind of development I envisaged when making my recommendation," Dr Wright said.

Environment minister Nick Smith said he would consider the Parliamentary commissioner's advice alongside advice from the Minister of the Environment, ECan and ministerial colleagues, when deciding about the best intervention.

ECan and Ministry for the Environment consider the watertake consents should be considered alongside the water discharge consent, but the water take consents "are well and truly down the track and it was not lawfully possible to call them in," Dr Smith said.

"The applicant lodged land-use consents with the Waitaki District Council which have already been granted, water discharge consents and watertake consents. The regional council had a lot more submissions on the discharge consents than on the water take consents and they have been on a slower track.

"One of the facts the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is overlooking is that calling in the discharge consents would cause a disconnect with the water take consents that have already been heard. by commissioners.

"The Government does agree with the parliamentary commissioner that these are particularly significant consents. The Mackenzie Country is iconic."

Dr Smith said he was exploring an option for appointing a project coordinator to assist Environment Canterbury with processing the consent applications.The final date for the Government to intervene is February 2.

Many of the more than 4000 submissions ECan received on the consents dealt with animal welfare issues of the housing of the more than 18,000 cows.

Advice Dr Smith has received indicates those issues lie with the Animal Welfare Act 1999 rather than the Resource Management Act and this constrains the ability to use the call-in powers.

The Parliamentary Commissioner is the public watchdog for the environment, and Dr Smith should listen to her, Greens co-leader Russel Norman said.

"It adds to the public pressure to call them in. These consents obviously are going to have a dramatic impact on the environment. We will certainly be ramping up the pressure on the Government in the deadline to call it in over the next few weeks."

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