Back
83 days ago

West Coast dairy farm inspections down as priorities change

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Lois Williams:

The West Coast Regional Council is cutting back on the number of visits it makes to dairy farms to check if farmers are doing the right thing by the region’s rivers.

And it says that is because by and large, they are.

The council marks its own card annually against the performance targets it set for the year in areas including environmental monitoring.

A report to next Tuesday’s Assurance and Risk committee by principal planning Officer Stewart Genery notes the council failed to meet all the targets it set itself for regular inspections to check if farmers are complying with their effluent discharge consents.

All ‘significant’ discharges – not just from farming - are supposed to be monitored at least once a year and the council met that target, making 498 field visits, the report found.

But over the last three quarters, it failed to achieve its target of inspecting all dairy farms that operate under permitted activity rules at least bi-annually, depending on the farmer’s compliance record.

The report says the council had reprioritised that work programme.

“Dairy farm visits continue … but as a result of maturing relationships with our dairy farming community and continued performance by that sector we have transitioned away from this work to other higher priority work programmes.”

Although that meant a “not achieved" mark, the result still represented a good outcome for the West Coast community, the report said.

Regional Councillor and farmer Andy Campbell says essentially that means farmers are doing a good job of meeting the conditions of their resource consents.

“Everyone’s pretty compliant these days - the Freshwater Farm Plans the council was working on were the carrot that would have replaced our present stick approach - though that’s now on hold."

The former government’s Freshwater Farm Plan regulations came in under the RMA last August and were to be the central tool for farmers to manage water issues, with rules tailored to specific catchments.

The West Coast Regional Council had completed much of that work including consultation with catchment groups and iwi and was about to embark this year on training certifiers and implementing the first Farm Plans.

But it paused the process in May after the government signalled it wanted to simplify the regulations.

“Under the circumstance it is risky for the council to continue … as any farm plan developed and verified may have to be changed substantially or the entire process could even be potentially redundant,” the council said at the time.

*LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

Image
More messages from your neighbours
2 days ago

Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.

This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
.
Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.

Image
Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
  • 84.4% Yes
    84.4% Complete
  • 14.1% No
    14.1% Complete
  • 1.5% Other - I'll share below
    1.5% Complete
1360 votes
1 day ago

What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.

Image
17 hours ago

Riddle Me This: Can You Out-Smart Yesterday’s Champ?

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

How can the number four be half of five?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

Image