Draft Northland Regional Catchment Plans
FF gave feedback on the Pouto, Doubtless Bay, Mangere, Whangarei Harbour and Waitangi Catchment Plans in late 2016. We also had farmer representatives on most of the catchment groups that helped to develop these plans. FF strongly supports the catchment plan process as it means communities can identify and protect the things they value about freshwater in their area. It also enables us to take a more targeted approach to issues. We did express concern about the lack of monitoring data in some of the catchments and the difficulty those groups had making informed decisions. Against this background we did not support those catchments stricter rules that those contained in the draft Regional Plan. The catchment plans are in the process of being finalised now. However, where catchment specific rules are recommended, these have been included in the Regional Plan and will be subject to further consultation.