The decision that councils will be stopped from rushing through new restrictive plan changes is welcome news to farmers, Federated Farmers RMA reform spokesperson Mark Hooper says.

"Councils across New Zealand have been continuing to push ahead with new district plans that put farms under restrictive overlays, such as Outstanding Natural Landscapes and Significant Natural Areas.

"This is despite the fact any plan changes may only have a shelf life of months, given the Government intends to pass a new Resource Management Act next year.

"It’s a huge waste of time - and ratepayers’ money."

The Waitaki District, for example, has a proposed plan change that would see over 200,000 hectares of private land under landscape overlays, and creates 329 Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) covering over 7000ha of private land.

"Once a farmer has an overlay like an Outstanding Natural Landscape (ONL) on their farm, it creates huge uncertainty over how they can use their land.

"Basic activities like putting in a new fence or farm race may require resource consent. Under some council proposed plans, building a new house or shed is nearly impossible," Hooper says.

"Farm values under an ONL can drop considerably too, meaning regulation has the effect of taking property rights and value away from farmers."

Work on these new rules is pointless when the current RMA will be scrapped within 12 months, Hooper says.

"All the councils are doing is creating angst and confusion, and wasting bucketloads of ratepayer money.

"Federated Farmers welcomes the Government stepping in and calling a halt on this today.

"We trust a new RMA, based on property rights, won't allow councils to take basic property rights away from farmers in the form of restrictive overlays.

"Halting plan changes now avoids councils rushing to put in new red tape before a new RMA is in place."

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