Member Advisory

Federated Farmers’ Roadshow: Plan Change 1 – Why it matters and how it affects your farm

June 18, 2020


    

Update

The decision on the Proposed Waikato Regional Council Plan Change 1 – Waikato and Waipā River Catchments (PC1) to the Waikato Regional Plan is up for appeal to the Environment Court.
This Member Advisory sets out some guidance on the immediate application of minimum farming standards and also invites farmers to a number of meetings throughout the Waikato and Waipā catchment area to discuss PC1.

Minimum Farming Standards

Federated Farmers’ understands that there has been some discussion about the requirement to meet the Schedule C minimum farming standards immediately.

While PC1 is not operative until any appeals are resolved, PC1 does have legal effect and must be complied with. While many of the provisions have delayed practical effect due to in-built timeframes, Rule 3.11.4.2 requires all farmers to comply with the minimum standards in Schedule C now. You can read more here in our FAQs.

Waikato Regional Council has advised Federated Farmers that there may be some cases where farmers are not required to comply with the minimum farming standards due to existing lawful activities protected under section 20 of the Resource Management Act 1991.
Federated Farmers understands that the assessment of whether an activity meets the criteria for existing use protection is on a case-by-case basis and farmers are encouraged to seek legal advice should they wish to pursue the point.

Waikato Regional Council had intended to release a factsheet addressing this topic but have since decided not to release one at this stage. Federated Farmers’ suggests farmers contact Hamish Smith at the Waikato Regional Council should they have any questions on the applicability of Schedule C.
  

Federated Farmers’ Roadshow

Federated Farmers is hosting a number of meetings throughout the Waikato and Waipā catchment area to provide an update on PC1 and discuss its implications for farmers. The meetings will be hosted by our new Waikato President Jacqui Hahn, accompanied by Federated Farmers Policy staff who will also provide an update on the Environment Court appeal process.

There are a number of major issues with PC1 that could seriously affect your ability to farm or add significant unnecessary costs whether you are DryStock, Arable or Dairy. The meetings will provide opportunity for farmer feedback, including a question and answers session with Federated Farmers Policy Staff to help farmers better understand the ramifications PC1 will have on their farming businesses.

Federated Farmers welcomes all farmers to the following meetings and requests all those interested to pre-register:
  
 

Branch	Venue	Date	Time
Waipa/Te Awamutu	Don Rowlands Centre  Cambridge	Tuesday 23, June	11.00am
Tokoroa	Tokoroa Events Centre       Tokoroa	Thursday, 25 June	11.00am
Rotorua/Taupo	Reporoa Hall  Reporoa	Thursday, 25 June	3.00pm
Waitomo/Otorohanga	Waitomo Club  Te Kuiti	Monday, 29 June	3.00pm

If you are interested, please pre-register here.

For more information, you can contact:
Gaylene Bamford on 027 2504 186 or by email [email protected]