Two environmental watchdogs are taking Horizons Regional Council back to the Environment Court to challenge the way it is implementing its One Plan.
The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) and Fish & Game New Zealand are challenging the plan, which took 10 years of consultation, legal battles and rewrites before it was signed off in 2014.
Designed to manage natural resources throughout the Horizons region, which includes Tararua, the One Plan has particular emphasis on tackling pollution, improving water quality and preserving environmental diversity, but Federated Farmers said the legal action shows some people just can't accept industry and councils can work together effectively.
Federated Farmers Tararua provincial president Clint Worthington said the economic cost of revisiting this plan would be depressing for the region, both to the ratepayers who will fork out to fight court action and to the communities who will now operate without the security of the plan.
"This is going to be an enormous drain on progress in our communities, right across the Horizons region," he said.
Federated Farmers Manawatu-Rangitikei provincial president James Stewart said the court action undermined and disregarded the enormous amount of good work and investment undertaken by farmers across the region to comply with the new One Plan regulations.
"The One Plan is not a rubber-stamping exercise. We've all been working very hard to meet new stringent requirements and ensure checks and balances are in place," he said.
"To have organisations, with limited local knowledge, throw stones from outside our region is very disappointing and fails to recognise the large amount of proactive and local work happening to support the One Plan.
"The One Plan cost farmers and the regional council millions of dollars to refine and negotiate, in and out of court, for more than seven years. It finally became operational more than 18 months ago and has been a daily work-in-progress project for farmers and the council since then.
"In this tough economic climate, farmers have stepped up to the plate, forking out up to $50,000 each to further improve their work in water quality, nutrient management and environmental farm planning."
Last month Tararua District mayor Roly Ellis told a Horizons meeting local dairy farmers had made huge investments in fencing and planting of waterways as part of their responsibility under the One Plan.
Mr Ellis said the Tararua District Council was pleased Horizons One Plan was being implemented within the spirit and intent of the Environment Court ruling with regional councillors understanding the very difficult period dairy farmers have found themselves in, but, he said, Tararua farmers need certainty and stability.
The Dannevirke News approached John Barrow, the Tararua representative on Horizons Regional Council and Mr Ellis, for comment on the legal proceedings, but they weren't prepared to comment at this stage.
However, Andrew Day, who is standing for the one Tararua seat on Horizons Regional Council, challenging sitting member John Barrow and candidate Lorraine Stephenson, told the Dannevirke News he was aware of the gap between how the regional council was operating and implementing the One Plan and it's legal obligations.
"We do have to find a legally robust solution for how intensive farmers operate," he said.
While the One Plan was hailed as "precedent-setting" when first drawn up, EDS and Fish & Game say they have become increasingly frustrated with how Horizons has implemented it.
"We are concerned Horizons hasn't been implementing its regional plan lawfully, particularly when dealing with resource consent applications for intensive farming and dairy conversions," Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor said.
Wellington regional manager Phil Teal said he was disappointed repeated attempts to get Horizons to properly implement the One Plan had failed.
"It would have been better to work out a solution without having to go to court, but sadly that hasn't been possible," he said.
With a local body candidates election meeting in Dannevirke tonight, Mr Day expected debate to heat up over the issue.