Farmers ready to march against access

Farmers angry over plans to allow walkers access to rivers on their land will march to Parliament today and present a protest petition.

The march is on the final day of Federated Farmers' week-long orange ribbon campaign -- where farmers tied ribbons to their gates showing their opposition to access.

The organisation has 18,000 members and expect a large turnout in the march from the Wellington Railway Station at 11am to Parliament. The petition will be presented at 1pm.

Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton yesterday said access to waterways was important but people would not be able to walk "willy nilly" across farms.

The 5m walkways were proposed only for where there was no existing Queen's Chain, and would not change the 22m-wide Queen's Chain. Rather, they would address gaps in access to beaches, rivers, and lakes.

There would be little or no impact on farming operations from the policy, and costs such as signage would be borne by a proposed access commission. Farmers could continue to use their land as they wanted.

"We do not want people near homes or farm buildings," he said. "The policy creates buffer zones to ensure that."

- NZPA