ENVIRONMENT | COMPLIANCE
The ORC says it will take an education first approach and work with farmers.
Regional council seeks collaboration BY: JOANNA CUTTANCE
T
he Otago Regional Council wants to help farmers achieve compliance with the new national environmental standards. The council’s regulatory general manager, Richard Saunders said to do this it would work with the community in a collaborative and educational way. As a regulator, the ORC had a statutory responsibility to ensure the rules contained within the new national standards were met, and the organisation had been speaking to their farming communities to understand which areas were of most concern. One was how the rule around pugging
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would be enforced. The rule states, pugging landowners to identify the reasons nonwhich means the penetration of soil of compliance may be occurring and how more than 5cm is to be no deeper than it could be avoided in the future,” 20cm and must cover less than 50% of the Saunders says. paddock (this does not apply around fixed Consents for winter grazing will be structures). able to be lodged early in 2021. Saunders says pugging could Saunders says the length of time be checked as part of routine on a consent would be granted for farm compliance monitoring would depend on the application. or as a result of a complaint He encourages farmers to apply being received. ORC staff would for multiple years and for the always have a discussion with whole farm within the one the farmer concerned to identify consent. More details about the any potential issues and most information required to support Richard Saunders. importantly identify whether an application would be on the there is likely to be any environmental ORC website later this year. effects from pugging identified on site. “If a consent cannot be granted a staff “An education first approach will be member will discuss the reasons why and taken and ORC will work with farmers and talk through options to make amendments
Country-Wide
December 2020
