Submission

Federated Farmers Submission on BOPRC Plan Change 10 (Lake Rotorua Nutrient Management)

Plan Change 10 (Lake Rotorua Nutrient Management) is a change to the Bay of Plenty Regional Water and Land Plan to achieve objectives and policies in the Regional Policy Statement relating to reduction of nitrogen load to Lake Rotorua.
We consider that Lake water quality is everyone’s responsibility, everyone needs to be part of the solution and there needs to be an enabling framework for community led solutions and innovation. We are concerned that Plan Change 10 has failed to take stock of the changes in science, statutory and social context over the past five years.
We consider that it is imperative that the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) is implemented for Lake Rotorua (scheduled for 2020), the Rotan review is completed and the 2017 science review is completed before a new rules framework is drafted and adopted.
We propose that all farms over 10 hectares are required to comply with Rule 11 (which essentially requires no increase in nitrogen) and in the meantime, time is allowed to complete the science and NPS processes. Rules ought to be developed once these processes are complete.