June 12, 2014

Farmer survey discussion at Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee

The Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee will meet in Culverden on Monday 16 June, 2014.

The meeting will begin with an update from the Regional Committee, which will be followed by an update from Environment Canterbury on consent applications in the zone. This will include the applications for resource consent by Ngāi Tahu Forest Estates Limited to divert, take, use and discharge water and change the use of land at Balmoral Forest.

The meeting will also receive a report from the New Zealand Landcare Trust on a survey of North Canterbury farmers, which has been undertaken to identify and address farmers’ information and technology gaps relating to nutrient management.

The survey has been sponsored by the North Canterbury Sustainable Farming Systems Project, which was established to assist with the implementation of the Hurunui and Waiau River Regional Plan that encourages farmers to become more aware of and involved in nutrient management as part of a catchment-wide approach to improving water quality. It requires farmers to search out and implement new technologies for ecologically and economically sustainable land-uses.

Thirty-seven farmers were surveyed in April 2014 in face-to-face discussions with project staff. A report on the survey findings says the level of engagement in the development of regional plans needs improving and those who took part in the survey appeared somewhat complacent about threats to water quality.

When respondents were asked what they considered to be the most important issues that farms in the catchment face in order to comply with regional plans for decreasing nutrient loading and improving water quality, the most frequently listed response related to fertiliser-related issues.

The final item on the agenda is the progression of community and stakeholder discussion on nutrient headroom. At its last meeting, the committee confirmed nutrient headroom was a priority in the Hurunui catchment, to determine how intensification might be accommodated within the operative Hurunui-Waiau River Regional Plan.

The Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee is a joint committee of Environment Canterbury and Hurunui District Council. It includes seven community members, two Rūnanga representatives, and one each from Hurunui District Council and Environment Canterbury.

Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee meeting
5.00pm, Monday 16 June 2014
St John’s Hall
23 Montrose Avenue
Culverden

For a copy of the agenda visit the Hurunui Waiau committee page at www.canterburywater.org.nz

ENDS

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