Regional Council explains Plan Change 1 at Fieldays

Fieldays will offer information landowners near river catchments may find interesting.

Landowners in the Waipa and Waikato river catchments are being urged to visit Waikato Regional Council at Fieldays to understand what's currently on the table as part of Healthy Rivers/Wai Ora: Proposed Waikato Regional Plan Change 1.

The council mailed a brochure to just over 10,000 landowners in the catchment last week outlining key components of the proposed plan, and what landowners can be thinking about now, to ensure they're well placed when final decisions are anticipated to be made next year.

While the proposed plan still has a hearings process to go through, landowners will need to be planning to complete registration of their property with the council or provide a nitrogen reference point (NRP), as currently proposed in the plan.

"We still have a hearings process to go through and parts of the plan may change as a result of that. What we're saying to landowners is if they understand what's currently proposed, the information they may need to provide or the work they may need to carry out on their properties, they will be well placed when final decisions are made," says chief executive Vaughan Payne.

"Come and see us at Fieldays and talk through any questions you may have about Healthy Rivers/Wai Ora. We're here to help and Fieldays is the perfect opportunity for you to see us."

Mr Payne said as part of the submission process the council was working with industry and sector organisations to jointly identify areas of the plan which could be improved.
"No plan is perfect when it's first notified, so through the submission process we want to achieve a plan that is workable for all landowners and delivers on the water quality goals we all aspire to," Mr Payne said.

Key components of the proposed plan that landowners need to be more responsive to currently include:

• Registration for all properties in the Waikato and Waipa river catchments over two hectares by March 31, 2019. This will affect many small block holders, lifestyle property owners or even equine businesses who still may not be aware of what's proposed.

• Provision of a nitrogen reference point (NRP) by March 31, 2019. This will affect most properties over 20ha and commercial vegetable growers. If landowners keep good records now the cost of preparing this information could be reduced.

• Creation of a farm environment plan (FEP). This will affect most properties farming over 20ha. FEPss are tailored to identify and manage the four key contaminants - nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and bacteria - on your property, setting out specific timeframes for work to be done. Under the proposed plan the first FEPs will be due by July 1, 2020.

Landowners can start thinking about work on their property now by using the Farm Menus. See www.farmmenus.org.nz.

Mr Payne said through the annual plan and long term plan process the council was preparing to make landowners' jobs easier. The council is investing $2.74 million over the next 12 months to:

• Working with industry and sectors to help landowners understand FEP requirements;

• Approval, certification and audit systems for industry schemes and rural professionals;

• Preparing to process and monitor resource consent applications;

• Building IT systems to support landowners to lodge their registration, NRPs, and FEPs;

• Developing environmental monitoring and reporting tools to track our progress.