Luke Kane: Federated Farmers Otago president calls for transparency around new freshwater rules

There's calls for more transparency from Otago Regional Council about the impacts and costs of new freshwater rules.

Federated Farmers Otago has written to councillors, district Mayors, and ministers demanding the latest draft of the council's Land and Water Plan be made public.

President Luke Kane says a secretive consultation process has left the community in the dark.

"We understand that some of the district councils are really concerned with these rules - obviously, everybody is in a financial pinch at the moment, especially councils deciding how and where to spend their money."

Otago regional council says it believes it's had an open process, with meetings across Otago.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hither duple c ellen.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Now farmers are demanding that Otago Regional Council front up
and be honest about how much the new water rules
are going to cost. It turns out, as predicted, the
tomorow or two y concept which has been put into
the water rules, which allows the local ewe to tell
local government how to protect the manna of the water,
is going to be really expensive. With me right now
is Luke Caine, the president of Federated Farmer's Otago.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hi, Luke, Hi, how are you doing so?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm well, thank you mate. How much have you heard
it's going to cost?

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yes, say, that's a tricky thing, right. We're working on
some older information because no one seems to have an
up to date figure. The last we heard for a
couple of small towns in Otago as they study with
around one hundred and ten million, which would quate still
around that fifty odd thousand.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Per which are these two towns.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
They are in the central Otago district yees, so there
are of the of that size of around that four
or five hundred people.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, and are they affected now? My understanding is they
are affected by the local ewe's rule and being nai
tahoo that water that's passed through a human body cannot
be put back into a waterway. So for example, you know,
the whees that have been treated cannot be put into
the local stream. Is that what is affecting them?

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, and it's it's it's to the point where even
if this water is actually treated to the point where
it is then cleaner, clearer than the naturally flowing water,
it still can't go in there. Why, it's not a
debate on whether where you know, it's not around wanting
to discharge raw sewage by any means that you know,
that's another argument, but it's well, not like that just

(01:45):
can't be done. But yes, it's it's based on the
more spiritual believing of the water.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Spiritual stuff. Okay, and so is this going to the
cost comes into what having to build new new water
treatment infrastructure or something like.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
That, Well, it would have to be discharged to land,
which of course, okay, we could possibly do that, but
under all of the throod producing rules we cannot. As farmers,
you aren't allowed to harvest any pasture or anything and
feed it back to an anal animal if it's had
that water applied to it and We're a wet climate

(02:20):
down here in places right, ability to actually discharge any
water during a winter period is non existent because water
holding capacity of the soils not there.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, now this is obviously going to affect the rate pays.
How is this going to affect farmers?

Speaker 1 (02:36):
So farmers obviously also either in some cases are on
town supply for sewage and that sort of thing, or
both the private schemes adviseeptic tanks and that sort of thing.
But also quite big in the central Nargo area where
a lot of irrigation and North Otago, there's issues there

(02:59):
where that it cannot take water from one tributary, mix
it with another and then possibly put it back into
the tributary. So there's cases there where there's been mining
channels or water conveying channels for over one hundred years,
which might make you know, two creeks to get it
for simple terms and discharge it back to the river,

(03:21):
even though the river was where the water would naturally
end up. A just means that there's a co creek
in the middle.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Okay, Luke, you have you gone to the Otaga Regional
Council asked them how much is this going to cost?

Speaker 1 (03:34):
So we've left between out yesterday. We understand that some
of the district councils are really concerned of these rules
and they you know, obviously everybody is in a in
a financial princh at the moment, especially councils, and deciding
how and where to spend their money. So you know,
talking billions across the target if we use that, you know,

(03:56):
those couple of case studies, which yeah, it's just.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Not viable, No, it really isn't. Luke, thank you very
much for talking us through. That's Luke Caine, President of
Federated Farmers Are Target.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
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