The Hastings District Plan is officially out for submissions now and Federated Farmers is preparing our formal submission.
This council had a "practice run" with the draft plan earlier this year, so even if individual farmers made a submission to that version you need to make another one for theofficial process now.
One topic that Federated Farmers was able to provide lots of constructive advice to the draft version was the protection of indigenous vegetation. Federated Farmers has a lot of experience with this topic nationwide, as it disproportionately affects farmers with their rural lands having regenerating or remnant bush.
Urban, industrial and commercial landowners are unlikely to be directly affected by rules, as it is unlikely they have native vegetation on their properties. Attitudes to native bush have changed much since New Zealand was first settled. New Zealand's forests were initially seen as a valuable timber resource of the early export trade. At times during history, there were government incentives to clear bush to bring land into production and, up until the 1940s, possums were a protected species.
Although we understand the remaining bush is important, it pays to remember the decline of bush was not the fault of individual landowners, but a result of overall attitudes and the prevailing government directions at the time. Today's remaining bush blocks have survived due to the stewardship of rural landowners.
Federated Farmers noted that the draft district plan approached indigenous vegetation in two ways, by scheduling sites that are considered significant, and also by having a general clearance rule that applies to all areas of indigenous vegetation whether or not it is significant. Federated Farmers considers that the schedule approach has advantages of certainty for the council and landowners, and focused efforts where they will have most benefit.
General clearance rules can end up protecting regenerating manuka in pasture and other poor quality vegetation. Hopefully, our ideas have been taken on board, so that indigenous vegetation in Hastings district can be managed in a sensible way.
Rhea Dasent is a regional policy adviser for Federated Farmers.
