Federated Farmers Submission to the Taranaki Regional Council Proposed Coastal Plan for Taranaki
The Regional Council is consulting on their coastal plan. In our submission, we raised concerns around public access and also some of the new provisions designed to protect surfing. We stressed that public access should only be promoted where it’s appropriate, not anywhere and everywhere. And that farmers have the right to restrict access over their property if they need to. We’ve asked for boundaries of a new ‘Significant Surfing Zone’ to be redrawn so it no longer includes coastal farmland. This is so we’re not put in the position where protecting someone’s view from a surfboard could potentially mean restricting farming activities.
Overall we consider that the Proposed Coastal Plan takes a practical approach to the management of the coast. While objectives and policies may affect farming, we note that rules are confined to the ‘Coastal Marine Area’.
For more information, please see the full submission