A swathe of reforms proposed by the Government would ease regulatory controls on farming, forestry and other primary industries

The Government has unveiled a massive reform programme affecting large swathes of the primary industry. 

It says forests, farms, horticulture and other sectors will find further development easier from government proposals to relax a range of rules imposed over many years.

“When farmers, and foresters do well, New Zealand does well – but for too long, New Zealand’s primary producers have struggled against overly restrictive, confusing and duplicative regulations,” says the Resource Management Act (RMA) Minister Chris Bishop.

“Our package of proposed reforms seeks to streamline and clarify many of the bugbears causing our primary industries sector sleepless nights and lost productivity.”

Bishop joined his government colleagues, Todd McClay and Andrew Hoggard, in unveiling the proposed reforms, which are open for submissions.

The proposals have been condemned as a black day for the environment by the Green Party. 

"Today is a dark day for rivers, lakes, streams, beaches, forests and all who enjoy and rely on these taonga across Aotearoa,” the Green Party’s environment spokesperson, Lan Pham says. 

"The actions of this government will go down in history as the most anti-environment we have ever seen. Councils and communities could be stripped of their ability to control the harmful impacts of industries like forestry, intensive farming, and mining."

The proposals include making it easier to grow vegetables, which was a sore point with Horticulture NZ.  The Government says it wants to direct councils to consider how to “help ensure a stable domestic food supply, including providing for crop rotation through regional plans.

“This would permit commercial vegetable growers to grow food or rotate crops within a catchment without having to get resource consent.”

Restrictions on non-intensive grazing in wetlands would go

The proposals would also remove the restrictions on non-intensive grazing of beef cattle and deer in wetlands. There will be relaxed rules on aquaculture and forestry. 

They come as comprehensive RMA reform is in train and fast-track approvals are already accessible for projects deemed to have regional or nationally significant benefits.

“These changes……are about freeing farmers to do what they do best,” says McClay.

Water storage rules figure strongly in the proposals. There was a lot of resistance to the Waimea water storage dam near Nelson, which failed to block the project, and in central Hawke's Bay, where resistance halted the scheme. 

A fact sheet prepared by the Government says the proposals aim to mitigate the impacts of droughts and climate change, by managing water storage to support ecosystems and maintain water flows during dry periods. This would reduce the need for over-extraction from natural water bodies such as rivers or lakes.  

This last comment parallels the failed Ruataniwha water storage dam in central Hawke's Bay, though that scheme has subsequently been revived.

Wetlands are a big focus of the proposal. Farming would be allowed in wetlands if it is unlikely to have an adverse effect.  Councils would no longer have to map wetlands from 2030 and so-called induced wetlands – caused unintentionally or from a farmer’s own environmental endeavours - would be excluded from general wetland controls. 

Forestry would get a break by a ban on councils imposing more severe controls than is intended by national policy directives.  However, foresters’ need to remove slash from sites where trees are being harvested is reinforced.  This concern stems from forestry slash that flowed down hillsides on the North Island's East Coast and smothered lowland farms. 

The proposals also want to “rebalance” Te Mana O Te Wai or possibly remove it altogether from the rules on water.   This is a concept dating back to the previous National-led government and seeks to preserve the health and well-being of a waterway throughout its entire course from source to sea. It was closely connected with the Maori concept of Mauri, which gives a form of inner life-force to all phenomena.  It involved close work with iwi. 

One of the options in the document would preserve this arrangement, another would dilute it and a third would remove it entirely. 

“The current system’s Te Mana o te Wai has caused frustration across rural New Zealand, with some councils applying it in a way that sidelines the very people working to improve water outcomes,” Hoggard says.

“Farmers aren’t asking for a free pass – they’re asking for a fair go," McClay adds.

“We won’t stand by while councils weaponise Te Mana o te Wai, to push ideology over common sense. It must reflect the importance of freshwater to all New Zealanders.”

In making these changes, the Government thinks it can have things both ways.

“We’re committed to a freshwater system that protects the environment while also supporting the people who feed and grow New Zealand,” Hoggard says.

'Government hellbent on pushing our natural environment to the brink'

The Green Party says the proposed changes are a dark day for rivers, lakes, streams, beaches and forests.

“Taking freshwater as one example, ‘Te Mana o Te Wai’ offered us a clear legal framework that prioritised the health of our waterways and the health of our communities above corporate greed,” Pham says. 

“Instead, the actions of this Government will go down in history as the most anti-environment we have ever seen. Councils and communities could be stripped of their ability to control the harmful impacts of industries like forestry, intensive farming, and mining."

“The Government has really shown their cards today. It could not be clearer that they are hellbent on pushing our natural environment to the brink, exploiting everything they can for any profit that can be squeezed out of it."

“Truly prosperous economic activity is only possible if our planet is also thriving," Pham says.

The Act Party, though, thinks the changes do not go far enough and wants Te Mana O Te Wai gone for good. 

Lobby group Federated Farmers applauds the government announcements.

"The previous government’s freshwater rules were completely unworkable for farmers,” says Federated Farmers freshwater spokesperson Colin Hurst.

“In some cases, even if you converted a whole catchment to native forest, you still wouldn’t have achieved the bottom lines.”

Hurst says it’s particularly welcome that the Government wants a more balanced approach to Te Mana o Te Wai.

"That concept, as pursued by the previous government, has been unworkable and highly problematic.

"It was unclear how councils should interpret and apply what was a vague concept of protecting the mana and mauri of water under Labour’s rules, and what that might mean for our farms and rural communities."

“Under Te Mana o te Wai, the health and wellbeing of water is put ahead of all other considerations, including human health, and social, cultural and economic wellbeing. That seems wildly imbalanced," Hurst says.

Consultation on the proposals is open until  27 July.