Te Anau decision shocks
A KNIGHT who has spent decades battling to protect Fiordland’s environment is appalled a dairy development has been approved on the edge of Lake Te Anau.
Emeritus Prof Sir Alan Mark said a resource consent issued by Environment Southland last year should have been publicly notified given the pollution he predicted would occur to the upper Waiau River and therefore to Lake Manapouri.
He wrote to the council asking it to reconsider its decision.
However, Federated Farmers said it was in ‘‘full support’’ of Scott Farming 2012 Ltd’s bid to build a 15,000sq m compound of four wintering barns near the river, which the group said would not harm the environment.
Environment Southland issued resource consent to discharge agricultural effluent to land from 1600 cows; to use land to build and use an effluent storage pond; and to use land for the wintering barns without public notifi cation in May last year.
The Southland District Council has since publicly notified the next step for the dairy operation as it seeks consents related to building its wintering barns.
A hearing for that application has been scheduled for September 29 in Te Anau.
Te Anau tourism operator Martin Sliva said about 30 concerned Te Anau residents and supporters met after a prehearing meeting and asked for the initial hearing date of September 21 to be postponed, as reported by the Otago Daily Times last week.
Sir Alan said he learned of the plans from the ODT report.
He was a founding member of the Save Manapouri campaign which helped prevent the raising of Lake Manapouri by up to 30m, and merging Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau, as part of the Manapouri Power project.
He served as chairman of the Guardians of Lake Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau for 26 years.
He said he could not believe the Environment Southland consent had been nonnotified.
His concerns about the suitability of the site and the process prompted his letter to council.
‘‘I think they’re the real problem, giving a nonnotified consent for the grazing of those 1600 cows on that area,’’ Sir Alan said.
The letter ‘‘seriously recommended’’ that the council reconsider its consent.
Formerly the site of the Te Anau airport, between the Te AnauManapouri Highway and the upper Waiau River, the area in question was underlain by freedraining outwash gravels, Sir Alan’s letter said.
Effluent nutrients would therefore be likely to permeate into the upper Waiau River and cause pollution.
‘‘This is a quite unacceptable situation which should have at least resulted in a notified application, open for submissions.’’
Environment Southland moved the Te Anau sewage facility from the lower Upukerora River outlet leading into Lake Te Anau about 19km to land by the ManapouriTe Anau Airport because of effluent leakage concerns, Sir Alan said.
He was ‘‘nonplussed’’ the council would not act to prevent effluent from 1600 cows as this seemed at odds with its previous approach, he said.
Federated Farmers Southland junior vicepresident and sharemilkers’ section chairman Jason Herrick said opposition to the dairy block was based on emotion, not reality.
‘‘They’re not going to be happy until such time as farming practices are gone, which in a country that relies on agriculture, is pretty naive.’’
People had to accept the changing environment of the rural sector, including wintering barns, he said.
‘‘It is not a dairy farm, it is a grazing block that grazes dairy cows for 70 days a year, and putting them in a barn will mitigate all risks for the environment, and run off and sediment loss and nutrient loss into the waterways.
‘‘The barns are designed to unintensify it and strategically place nutrients back on to the land at the best suitable times.’’
Effluent from the storage pond would not seep into the ground and waterways because these days effluent ponds were lined and sealed properly, he said.
Environment Southland did not respond to request for comment.
Southland District Council environmental planning manager Marcus Roy said of 31 submissions received on the district council application, 9 were in support and 23 in opposition.
‘‘With submissions it’s not a numbers game, rather the content and merits of the submissions are what counts towards the decision,’’ he said.