Bay coastal farmers benefit

MAP LINES: The blue line shows the notified coastal environment line and the yellow line shows the final mediated result after successful federation advocacy.

Federated Farmers recently had a win for coastal farmers in the Bay of Plenty.

Under the Resource Management Act 1991, a variation was required to give effect to the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement that became operative in 2010.

The proposed changes to the Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement were notified through Variation 1 Coastal Policy with submissions closing in July 2012.

Federated Farmers was concerned with existing land use issues that we raised in our submission, further submission and appeal to the Environment Court on Variation 1.

The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010, states the coastal environment must be identified and appropriately protected. For the Bay of Plenty, that is the entire coast from Tauranga through Opotiki.

The issues we had were not with establishing the coastal environment, because this was a statutory requirement, but the methods used to identify where the line should go.

These concerns relate to maps including land that is currently in primary production such as pastoral farming within proposed coastal environment and areas of significance.

The current land use should have been considered and provided for when any variations were drafted.

It is simply not good enough to include all land into a zone just because it falls within a specified measured distance from a mean high water mark.

Federated Farmers supports the identification of zones, such as the coastal environment, as a method for dealing with the differing needs within the broader rural zone.

However, as these zones or areas will attract differing land use controls at regional and district plan levels, we are concerned about the accuracy of the boundary delineations, the criteria for identification and the lack of consultation regarding these areas.

A great portion of the landward extent of the coastal environment is held in private ownership and contains rural activities.

As such, Federated Farmers believes it is essential that rural activities are recognised to some degree as a part of region's coastal environment and that all coastal landholders are adequately consulted when identifying those areas of high natural character.

For example, a significance test that applies to a coastal forest may not apply to the adjacent pastoral farmland even if they are the same distance from the coast.

Also enhancement or issues of vulnerability of habitats within or adjacent to privately owned land should be discussed collaboratively with the land owners prior to drafting any policy.

What farmer believes salt spray or being able to hear the ocean from the coastal environment line is an appropriate test on working pastoral land?

When we looked closer at what was proposed, Federated Farmers discovered many of our members could be affected by the new coastal environment.

The imagery shows a farm that was going to have 11 per cent of their land in the coastal environment.

As these zones will attract differing land use controls at regional and district plan levels, we are concerned about the accuracy of the boundary delineations, the criteria for identification and the lack of consultation regarding these areas.

This was halved with the proposed coastal environment being moved up to 400 metres closer to the coast after Environment Court mediations through our Federated Farmers appeal.

The blue line shows the notified coastal environment line and the yellow line shows the final mediated result.

Some farms had up to 40 per cent of their farms within the coastal environment. In total the proposed coastal environment affected 27 of our members whose total land area represented 2487 hectares with 964 hectares or 39 per cent lying within the proposed coastal environment.

This result more than halved that with hundreds of hectares of land not getting further land use restrictions and essentially being devalued.

Federated Farmers and our members were the only appellants on these maps. You need to be a member of Federated Farmers to get the benefits of our policy work and results like this. These farmers did and they are grateful for the result.