HortNZ Environment Manager, Michelle Sands:

The Government’s conclusion supports HortNZ's long-standing position on Overseer and its limitations.

The way that Overseer has been used in local government plans has disadvantaged vegetable growers, who have been left unable to gain a consent for their activities in some regions.

We ask that the Government takes decisive action to provide a workable and certain regulatory framework in the transition to the 2024 National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) Plan Change.

Moving forward, HortNZ wants to ensure that there are workable regulations for managing the impacts of growing. We believe that audited, integrated farm plans are the way forward. They enable growers to document their practices and plan the improvements they can make over time.

Workable regulations, which enable vegetable growing and recognise that local vegetable production is an essential part of the national food system, are critical to New Zealand’s food security, and New Zealanders’ ability to eat fresh and healthy, locally grown produce.

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