Federated Farmers Involvement with Mackenzie District Council Plan Change 13
In our view, the package now proposed raises four broad areas of concern for the farmers in
the District:
- That regulation and any associated mapped areas are reasonable, accurate in both scope and definition, and provide for appropriate certainty. We are seeking that Council clearly considers the extent of any proposal on the District’s wellbeing, including the costs of addressing uncertainty as a result of proposed provisions that are loose, too broad or subject to varying interpretations.
- Farmers face an increasing number of compliance “hoops” to jump through in order to continue to farm. We oppose unnecessary or additional restrictions that conflict with existing regulation.
- Farmers are the most efficient agents for achieving on-farm good practice and to that end we actively encourage non-regulatory methods to achieve and encourage good practices. There are substantial existing drivers for farmers to ensure that their on-farm practices meet environmental standards.
- Increased regulation by councils translates into higher consent costs or rates for our members as well as other ratepayers. Farmers and communities are already heavily burdened by these costs and more council activity generally translates into higher council expenditure, higher consenting costs and higher rates.
Fore more, please see the full submission on evidence documents