But the High Country Accord Trust, made up of South Island farmers, said the bill was poorly drafted and placed a number of absurd limitations on day-to-day farming activities for pastoral leaseholders.
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• Farmers criticise Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill
The accord's chair, Philip Todhunter, said if the changes were brought into law, farmers would be bogged down in red tape and environmental outcomes would go backwards.
"Under the bill as it stands, we'd need to apply for consent to fence off a wetland or waterway and then another consent to put in a new stock water trough so our livestock can have a drink," said Todhunter.
Forest and Bird has welcomed the government's plans to cap tenure review, but it said the bill needed to be strengthened before it could stop long-term biodiversity loss.
The group's chief executive, Kevin Hague, said the bill includes a positive move towards outcome-based decision making, but those outcomes currently still require a balancing of environmental and farming interests.
"Forest and Bird seeks a number of changes to the Bill, including changing the outcomes to prioritise inherent natural values and adding the opportunity for the public to have input into discretionary consent decisions," he said.
- RNZ