Heavy rain caused slips on an Okoia farm. Photo / File
With more Government funding and more rain events expected, Horizons Regional Council wants better take-up of its Sustainable Land Use Initiative and is easing requirements.
More action is needed on the region's erosion-prone land, with 260,000ha of it still in pasture. At Horizons' June catchment operations committee meeting, councillors made
changes to eligibility for Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI) funding.
Committee chairman David Cotton said the changes fit with the Government's move toward new water policy, including its Action Plan for Healthy Waterways.
Horizons can now offer funding for one-off jobs on priority land on farms that do not have a SLUI Whole Farm Plan. It also has more funding for farms that do have those plans or have Whanganui Catchment Strategy plans.
"These new funding avenues will make it a lot easier for landowners to be part of the SLUI programme," Horizons natural resources and partnerships manager Jon Roygard said.
