Federated Farmers: Managing rural subdivision a complex business

Rural subdivision can create a number of concerns. These include loss of our finite resource of productive soils under house sites.

The control of residential development on rural land often throws up knotty problems for council planners. Part of Federated Farmers' role is to represent farmers to decision-makers, but when it comes to subdivision, reconciling often conflicting needs requires a particularly careful, nuanced approach.

Subdivision is an essential tool, forming new parcels of land for housing and other reasons. However, rural subdivision can create a number of concerns. These include loss of our finite resource of productive soils under house sites.

Land prices and rates also increase; land values based on future subdivision potential, rather than the actual use of the land as a working farm, can force a farmer out of business.

Then there is 'reverse sensitivity', a term describing what can happen when someone moves into a rural area who is not involved with or used to agricultural operations and has unrealistic expectations of life in the country.

This incompatibility between rural residential and farming activities is managed by councils, through careful planning for future housing needs in a way that does not compromise existing activities.

For example, they may encourage further development in existing residential areas, by allowing smaller lots there, in preference to the spread of houses into other zones.

Another option is so-called 'no-complaints covenants' as a condition of consent for developers. These voluntary mechanisms restrain new activities from complaining about the effects of an existing activity.

They recognise that while it would be ideal for all adverse effects to be contained within the boundaries of the property concerned, this is not always possible -- noise from animals and farm machinery for example.

Federated Farmers advocates the protection of farm land to enable ongoing primary production, while at the same time allowing individuals to subdivide if necessary, where a portion of the farm is uneconomic and better served as a residential block, or to house a family member or staff.

Ultimately the aim is to allow farming activities to continue, cater for housing needs and avoid both the loss of highly-fertile soils and reverse sensitivity issues as much as possible.