Federated Farmers Submission for Waimakriri District Council Issues and Options Papers District Plan Review Consultation Draft
Waimakariri is a fast growing mixed rural and urban district and farmers are a shrinking proportion of the population. Despite the advancing development of the district, farmers remain significant ratepayers due to the reliance, common to all councils, on property value based rates for funding local government. Many farmers with suitable land are involved in subdivision and residential expansion while others are faced with the challenge of running a profitable agricultural business in an increasingly urbanised area.
Federated Farmers’ members are finding themselves under an increasing range of legislative pressures from both central and local government. Farmers are facing a plethora of planning rules, and in areas such as Waimakariri are subject to both district and regional council requirements when undertaking every-day farming activities.
For these reasons, Federated Farmers continually seeks to only have what’s necessary and appropriate when it comes to regulation and legislation by central and local government, and a standardisation of regulation wherever that is possible.
For more, see the full submission