- an 11,000 tree wetland PLUS

When Christine and Tony Scurrah Whitton bought their first block, half an hour's drive west of Nelson, they weren't sure what to do with a boggy patch at the bottom of their property.

They hired environmental consultant Rob Fryer from FuturEcology, who advises on land and water use, to help them.

“We went down there, and Rob said, ‘oh it's a wetland, and it would have looked like this,'” says Christine.

Rob prepared a restoration plan, which they started working on in 2016.

“I knew nothing about natives,” says UKborn Christine. “We got a proposal from Rob for some straightforward riparian planting. We agreed he would do one side and give me a plant list to put on the other side. I bought the plants and worked on my side while Rob planted his. He showed me how to decide what to put where and how to plant them.”

The planning they started with Rob and have continued since has completely transformed their block and how they look at it. They've now planted more than 11,000 trees and propagate everything themselves. Tony says they're known among their neighbours as “the people who never stop working”, but they love it.

The new trend for planning

New environmental regulations mean planning is now a big issue for NZ farmers. Commercial farms are grappling with creating Farm Environment Plans (FEPs) to meet council requirements.

An FEP is designed to recognise and manage risks to the environment, including:

• soil quality;

• nutrient inputs;

• irrigation;

• effluent use;

• erosion.

Most lifestyle blocks (depending on your regional council's rules) won't need an official FEP, but there are plenty of good reasons to create one that's appropriate for your block.

The Nelson City Council has led the way for block owners in the last couple of years. Its rohe (territory) is mostly rural – just 10% of its area is urban – and contains a large, growing number of lifestyle blocks. It came up with an innovative programme to help block owners learn about planning and taking care of the environment, which is now spreading nationwide (see page 14).

Most lifestyle blocks are small, but collectively they cover almost 900,000ha of NZ, and have an enormous impact on the environment. Here's how good planning can transform your block and protect our environment.

Words Rachel Rose / Images Tony Scurrah Whitton, Jodi Roebuck, Jane Dove Juneau, Kath Irvine