Biosecurity rate rise to hit farmers hardest

Environment Southland is increasing its biosecurity rate by 11.7 per cent - much more than predicted - and farmers will be hardest hit.

The biosecurity rate for 2017-18 is $2.27m, an increase of $238,265 or 11.71 per cent on the previous year.

The rate increase is additional to Environment Southland’s general rates hike, which is 5.9 per cent in 2017-18.

In its long-term plan, the regional council had predicted a 2.6 per hike in its biosecurity rate but has instead gone much higher, to 11.7 per cent

Environment Southland biosecurity manager Richard Bowman said the biodiversity rate was based on land value, with farmers hardest hit by the hike.

However, he indicated farmers also benefited most from the biosecurity work done by Environment Southland because there were more pests in rural areas.

Southland Federated Farmers president Allan Baird said he was disappointed Environment Southland had hit double digits in its biosecurity rates hike because it was pulling in significant rates dollars and also receiving good dividends from South Port.

A lot of the South Port profits were driven by rural community exports and imports, he said.

Baird also said Environment Southland had done good work with its possum control programme and with its response to the velvetleaf incursion on Southland farms.

He ‘‘wasn’t particularly happy’’ when informed of the council’s 5.9 per cent general rates hike, and had not been informed of its 11.7 per cent biosecurity rates hike.

‘‘Their communication was reasonably light. They didn’t consult on it so there wasn’t as much we could do in this instance.’’

The council said it was not required to consult the public on its annual plan because there were ‘‘no significant changes to the long-term plan’’.

Bowman said the biosecurity rates hike was because of an increase in expenditure in Environment Southland’s biodiversity programme and the council had decided to take less from its reserves, which were ‘‘starting to run out’’.

More money was being spent on Environment Southland’s possum control programme and its pest management strategy.

The biosecurity rates increase, however, was not related to the velvetleaf incursion because the majority of that expenditure was paid for by the Ministry for Primary Industries, Bowman said.

The Environment Southland annual plan document says an Invercargill dairy farm with a land value of $3.36m will pay a $472 biosecurity rate in 2017-18 compared to $424 in 2016-17.

An Invercargill house with a land value of $185,000 will pay a $26 biosecurity rate in 2017-18 compared to $23.39 in 2016-17, it says.