Some are more equal than others...
Released 06 Aug 2010
Gwyn Morgan, Federated Farmers policy advisor
Environment Bay of Plenty has recently notified a proposed plan change of the On-Site Effluent Treatment Regional Plan 2006. The plan change proposes a date deferral of the current upgrade and compliance date for sewage systems from 1 December 2010 to longer time frames of up to seven years (2017).
Several Communities around the Rotorua Lakes will have reticulated sewerage systems constructed over time to assist with reducing the nutrient loading going into the lakes. The proposed reticulated systems are substantially funded by The Ministry of Health and Environment Bay of Plenty, they can be funded by as much as 85 percent. The proposed date deferral of the plan change is to accommodate the work plans and budgets of the district councils of Rotorua and Western Bay of Plenty.
Although this initiative has clear benefits to the lake and communities, the date deferral does have some impacts on other rate payers in the same catchments. For the organised individual rate payers that have already upgraded their systems this might seem an unfair situation.
Another potential impact of this proposed plan change is some communities around the Rotorua Lakes could continue to discharge sewerage nutrients in to the lakes for many years, until they change to a reticulated council endorsed sewerage treatment system or are upgraded to an advanced system. The On-Site Effluent Treatment Regional Plan currently requires the nutrient loading from septic tank discharges within lake catchments to be substantially reduced.
Federated Farmers conditionally supports Plan Change 1 as it seems the best balanced long term solution. It is refreshing to see the regional council balancing the cost of change to individuals and communities with the benefit of change to the environment.
Federated Farmers strongly advocates that this sort of thinking should be applied to the way farmers are being treated in the catchments. Current council thinking needs to be amended to include more realistic time frames for on farm changes to be implemented so that the pace and cost of change does not cripple farming. We all want a reduced environmental footprint but the real win win is an increased economic output at the same time.
