Opinion: Keep up with rural rule changes

Farming is becoming increasingly regulated with frequent rule changes.

Existing use rights under the Resource Management Act, (RMA) are of importance to farmers.

The RMA protects existing lawful uses against changes in district planning rules. An activity that is in breach of current district planning rules may continue, provided that it was lawful at the time it was established.

This provision is important to rural landowners, as we are seeing farming becoming increasingly regulated with frequent rule changes.

Existing use rights are slightly different to the temporary grace period that allows time to apply for consent after a rule change.

If something was permitted under the district plan in the past and rules change to make resource consent necessary, you usually have six months to apply, but can continue the activity until the decision on that consent is made.

Existing use rights, on the other hand, protect your ability to continue activities that were allowed before the RMA came in, under certain conditions.

Existing use rights decay over time; if an activity has stopped for more than 12 months, you may lose the right to continue. To qualify, they must also be similar in scale, intensity and character to previous activities.

The farmer, not the council, must prove they have existing use rights. However, establishing these rights can be very difficult, as many activities on farms are not documented.

Still, it is possible to extend the life of existing use rights by getting a certificate of existing use rights from the council to confirm the existing use rights.

The certificate has the same effect as resource consent, so it may be given effect for up to five years from the time it is issued.

To obtain a certificate of existing use rights, it is necessary to prove that the activity was lawful when it was undertaken. That generally requires searching back through the planning rules that applied at that time.

Even so, for many landowners it will be an easier process than obtaining resource consent.

Another advantage of obtaining an existing use rights certificate is it will make a property more attractive to potential purchasers.

If an existing building is in breach of current rules, purchasers may be reluctant to rely upon existing use rights without a certificate.

The message being it pays to keep up with changes in regulation, through your rural professional, Federated Farmers or other industry group. And if in any doubt about whether something is allowed, ring the council and ask.

- Coralee Matena is a senior regional policy advisor for Federated Farmers.

- Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions.

The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz.