- Hon Todd McClay
- Hon Andrew Hoggard
The Government has made significant improvements to the freshwater farm plan system through the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act which has now passed into law, says Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard.
"These changes are about making farm plans workable and affordable so farmers can get on and farm without unnecessary red tape," Mr Hoggard says.
The Act allows the Minister for the Environment to approve industry organisations to certify and audit freshwater farm plans, replacing the previous requirement where regional councils provided approval.
"This reduces duplication and cost for farmers who are already part of robust industry assurance programmes such as Horticulture New Zealand's NZGAP or Fonterra's Tiaki plans," Mr Hoggard says.
"If farmers and industry groups are already doing good work to identify and manage risks, we want to recognise that rather than force more paperwork on them.
"Farm plans will be built around actual risk on farm, and the practical actions the farmer will take over time to reduce them. This is another step toward ensuring farmers can continue to feed the world without getting tied up in complex resource consents, and balances this with protecting the environment."
Many smaller farms will no longer need a freshwater farm plan - the minimum farm size needing a plan for sheep and beef, arable, orcharding, and viticulture land use is now 50 hectares, up from 20ha.
This means that for around 8,000 smaller, lower risk farms the requirement for a freshwater farm plan has been scrapped completely.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says the primary sector drives New Zealand's exports, underpinning our economy and standard of living. When farmers do well, every New Zealander does well.
"We're continuing to progress a full overhaul of the RMA and replace it with a common-sense system that works. In the meantime, these practical amendments ensure farmers can get on with the job until we get there."
These reforms support both environmental stewardship and growth.
"Farmers are already doing a huge amount of work investing in freshwater management. Our job is to make sure the rules are practical, efficient and fit for purpose so the sector can continue to lead the world," Mr McClay says.
