Wide range of views on freshwater plan ‘no surprise’

Feedback on Northland Regional Council’s draft Freshwater Plan Change has been mixed, with council receiving 577 responses.

Northland Regional Council Chair Geoff Crawford says the council had expected to receive mixed feedback on the draft plan, and the broad range of views reflected among the hundreds of responses came as ‘no surprise’.

"We thank everyone who took the time to participate in our webinars, hui, and drop-in events, as well as providing feedback."

"We had feedback from farmers, landowners who had seen the benefits of protecting and restoring waterbodies as well as those who were struggling to make a living from their land, tāngata whenua, conservationists, young people concerned about the future of waterways, generations who have seen changes to water quality, and many more."

"Most people were concerned about poor freshwater health in our region. They wanted to be able to swim in, and drink from, our waterways safely. However, many farmers and landowners were concerned about how the costs of making change would impact the viability of making a living from the land, and they noted the need for financial and technical support."

The most common consultation topics in feedback gathered through the Wai It Matters consultation website, which accounted for 285 of the responses, were: livestock exclusion from highly erodible land (158 responses); livestock exclusion from waterways (129 responses); eliminating or reducing discharge (62 responses); and the targeted water allocation policy (61 responses).

Just over half of responses on the targeted water allocation policy were in support, with the remainder opposed.

Key themes in the online feedback included: concerns about the costs and profitability of farming (130 responses); preference for council to rely more heavily on individual farm management plans rather than blanket rules (82 responses); advocating for the rules on forestry to be tightened (62 responses); concerns about pest plant management after stock exclusion (44 responses); concerns about the cost and process of cultural impact assessments (44 responses); and suggestions for refining the draft highly erodible land maps (34 responses).

Chair Crawford says several strong themes came through in overall feedback across consultation channels from tāngata whenua, including their roles and responsibilities as rangatira and kaitiaki over their lands and water, and their sorrow and frustration with declining freshwater health and ecosystems.

"Tāngata whenua voiced concerns about the constraints and challenges Māori landowners face. Many were also concerned about the impact of climate change on the health and availability of freshwater, and the need for more work to be done on water supply security."

"They strongly supported working in partnership with council on freshwater planning, decision-making and monitoring, using their own tikanga (practices) and mātauranga (knowledge)."

The next version of the plan would be the proposed plan, Chair Crawford says.

"Council will use public feedback on the draft to help shape the proposed plan, and there will be an opportunity for people to make a submission and present their views at a hearing when the proposed plan is released."

However, he noted council would await clarity on national freshwater policy before it developed the proposed plan.

"The Government has said it intends to revise national freshwater policy, and it has extended the deadline for councils to release their proposed freshwater plans until 2027. It makes sense to delay the release of our proposed plan until the national policy direction is clear, so our proposed plan reflects any revised policy."

People can sign up to a six-monthly council e-newsletter to stay informed of progress on the freshwater plan, download a summary report of feedback the council received on the draft plan, and view the full feedback books, at www.wai-it-matters.nz