Incompetent bureaucrats rule

• Published date: 30 September 2022
• Publication title: Horowhenua Chronicle

Regulations capping nitrogen use on farms was part of the National Environmental Standard for Freshwater (NES-FW) introduced by Minister David Parker in 2020, to set minimum standards for activities to protect freshwater. They are another example of poor-quality regulations that had little or no practical oversight to ensure they were fit for purpose or would achieve the desired outcomes

Feds, along with others have put significant work into making these regulations more appropriate, but were frustrated to find the tools and capabilities required at regional council level were not in place for farmers to report the information on the date required, July 31. Farmers were then told not to submit their information until later when systems would be in place to receive it. So, because of bureaucratic incompetence, farmers were effectively asked by the same bureaucrats to break the law until they got their s*** sorted.

Now we have found the same issue with intensive winter grazing. Again, after the hard work has been done by farmers and industry groups to make these regulations workable, the bureaucrats have been unable to put processes in place to allow farmers to get on with what they are good at, producing high-quality, low-footprint food. Farm plans were supposed to be available by now for farmers to fill in their individual information and assess the risks of the winter grazing, mitigate that risk where possible, and obtain a consent if required.

Despite more than two years to get farm plans in place, they are not, so farmers are being asked to take the only option, apply for consents. However, councils are not equipped to deal with the expected number of consents, possibly as many as 1000 in the Horizons Council area, so are establishing interim steps in the hope that will reduce the numbers who need a consent.

This process has the potential to compromise the environmental outcomes and is unfairly putting all the risk and cost back on farmers, who are simply trying to do what is needed on farm, while ensuring environmental impacts are reduced.

If farm plans were in place as expected, some farmers would be able to proceed with their winter grazing plans, without the cost of a consent, but knowing they were meeting expectations around mitigating environmental impacts. Because bureaucrats have again been unable to...