[ad_1]
A controversy is brewing between Southland farmers and Environment Minister David Parker over new government regulations on fresh water.
About 94 percent of farmers who signed up to attend a meeting hosted by agriculture advocacy group Groundswell to discuss freshwater regulations indicated that they would not pay their Environment Southland fees in protest against the new freshwater rules. introduced by the government last year.
The group also surveyed farmers about holding more tractor protests and not applying for resource permits, prompting Parker to again remind Southland farmers that “no one is above the law.”
Instead, Parker encouraged the group to participate in “our ongoing constructive conversations.”
Robyn Edie.
Groundswell Speakers, from left, Logan Evans, Bryce McKenzie, Guest Speaker Jane Smith and Groundswell Member Laurie Paterson at a meeting to discuss the Government’s new freshwater rules near Gore.
READ MORE:
* 700 farmers attend a rural meeting to fight against the new freshwater rules
* Southland farmers will consider more protests against freshwater rules
* Ministers receive recommendations from the advisory group on winter grazing
“The Government continues to collaborate with primary sector groups, including the Southland Advisory Group,” Parker said.
Organizers estimated that around 700 farmers attended the meeting, which was held at the Southern Field Days site in Waimumu, near Gore.
The new National Environmental Standards for Freshwater, which were introduced in September, aim to improve freshwater quality by one generation. They will require increased environmental and agricultural monitoring, and will expand the range of activities that require resource consent, including some standard agricultural practices, as well as tighten the conditions for many existing consents.
However, some farmers have said that some of the rules, especially those related to winter grazing and overseeding pastures with a deadline, were not practical.
Groundswell member Bryce Mackenzie told the crowd that the group was created to advocate for the erosion of people’s rights and that freshwater regulations should be written by catchment groups and regional councils rather than government.
Guest speaker Jane Smith told the crowd that the biggest threat from farmers was farmers’ apathy.
“The unity of the farmers is our greatest opportunity. We need to be very clear about our modus operandi and how we got there. ”
He urged farmers to remember that they were professionals and environmentalists, saying the rules would “influence everything we do now and future generations.”
Rachael Kelly / Stuff
Organizers estimated that some 700 farmers attended the Groundswell meeting at Waimumu in Southland.
Groundswell member Logan Evans played The Last Post when he told the crowd that previous generations had gone to war to stand up for what they believed in and urged farmers to do the same.
Groundswell had already held a tractor protest on the streets of Gore in October and launched a petition against the rules.
Environment Southland President Nicol Horrell was unable to attend the meeting because he was meeting with Parker in Wellington.
He said the meeting was positive.
“By the end of the month we should have a response to the recommendations made by the winter grazing advisory group.”
But he said farmers who were considering not paying fees or applying for resource permits were “getting a little ahead of themselves.”
Parker had previously warned farmers that “no one was above the law” when Southland Federated Farmers President Geoff Young called on farmers to boycott the rules when they were introduced last year.
After the Groundswell meeting he attended Thursday, Young said it was grassroots farmers who attended and he respected their views.
“We are awaiting a response from the government and unless we can see any major changes in the rules and regulations, we will take further action,” Young said.
The winter grazing advisory group was made up of Environment Southland, and had made recommendations to ministers on the rules on winter grazing, but the government did not report any changes to the rules.
