The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Opinion: Oh joy, another rule for farmers

By John Blackwell, Federated Farmers Northland president
Northland Age·
6 Nov, 2018 12:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Federated Farmers Northland president, John Blackwell. Photo / Supplied

Federated Farmers Northland president, John Blackwell. Photo / Supplied

It really gets my goat that wetlands have disappeared due to historical land use practices that enabled our society to develop — yes, our towns and cities too. Yet the finger of blame is only pointed at farmers.

The best thing about being a farmer is all the regulation. I cannot get enough. Like most farmers I am filled with delight each year when our councils begin consultation on their annual plan or other plan change.

But what has filled me with delight this time, the real standout, is new rules in the proposed regional plan that expect farmers to become ecologists and identify all wetlands on their land in order to fence them off.

The thing is, the council has refused to map even significant wetlands because they say identifying them is too hard. The council couldn't spot a wetland in a police lineup, yet farmers are somehow expected to do it.

Read more from Federated Farmers here.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Farmers are also expected to figure out what kind of wetland they have. There are six options to choose from in the proposed regional plan. So that wet or boggy area on your farm could be farmland, but it might also be a wetland, or a natural wetland, or a constructed wetland, or an induced wetland, or a reverted wetland, or, heaven forbid, a significant wetland.

I'm told by the council that in some cases it might also be considered a lake.

To further complicate the situation, the type of wetland you have might change over time. So if you do a good job and construct a wetland that, in addition to trapping nutrients and sediment, creates habitat for lots of indigenous aquatic plants, the council might one day consider it a natural wetland and impose stricter rules.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This creates an incredibly frustrating and farcical situation for farmers.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but my hope is that more regulation at a national level will save us from this nonsense. Central government is about to weigh in on wetlands in the form of a draft National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity (NPS). They've obviously got the message that local authorities could use some help.

It's really easy to take a NIMBY approach to these wetland rules, as 85 per cent of us live in towns and don't have wetlands on our property. It really gets my goat that wetlands have disappeared due to historical land use practices that enabled our society to develop — yes, our towns and cities too. Yet the finger of blame is only pointed at farmers.

I'd like to see a bit more of a collective ownership of these issues. Oh, and a whole heap more clarity in our regulations would help everyone involved.

Discover more

Merits in new approach to freshwater management

30 Oct 09:00 PM

Federated Farmers: CPTPP 'a significant win for New Zealand'

31 Oct 03:15 AM

Federated Farmers: 'Plenty of lambs' expected to be born this season

31 Oct 06:00 PM
Agribusiness

Tight race for seats on Fonterra's board

04 Nov 04:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure
The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

Rifts among industry groups, charities and agencies in the beekeeping industry.

16 Jul 03:00 AM
The Country: Luxon on coalition friction
The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

16 Jul 01:42 AM
Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal
The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal

16 Jul 12:37 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP