Spending on court case hits $200k
Southland Federated Farmers costs of appealing Environment Southland’s Water and Land Plan in the Environment Court has hit about $200,000.
At the Southland Federated Farmers annual general meeting on Wednesday, Southland Federated Farmers senior vice-president Bernadette Hunt said it had significantly dug into reserve funds to appeal the plan, which is before the courts.
About $60,000 of the $200,000 had been raised through the Southland Federated Farmers Fighting Fund, which was launched in 2019.
Hunt said the lobby group was being prudent about how far it would go against the regulations, with Federated Farmers nationally matching the provincial group’s contribution, dollar for dollar, for the legal costs associated with matters currently before court.
‘‘We think we are being really prudent with member funds and our reserves whilst at the same time also recognising there is no point having money at the bank and not doing what members need us to do,’’ she said.
‘‘That money is there for purposes like this.
‘‘But we have been prudent about how far we are actually willing to go, and that’s part of the reason the national organisation has come to the party to support us now, because there was a no-go point we wouldn’t go past.’’
Federated Farmers senior policy advisor Peter Wilson said delays in the hearing had pushed up the cost of proceedings, but he was confident about the current state of the appeal.
At an Environment Southland strategy and policy meeting in February, Environment Southland policy and planning manager Lucy Hicks said it was ‘‘tricky’’ to say whether the court hearings would be finished before local body elections, to be held on October 8 this year.
The Southland Water and Land Plan was first notified in June 2016 and aims to address water quality in Southland.
Southland Federated Farmers identified 27 aspects of the plan which may adversely affect farming in Southland, including rules covering winter grazing, cultivation on sloping ground, feed pads and feed lots and stock exclusion from waterways.
The plan was made partially operative following a council meeting in January 2021 after years of submission writing, appeals and environment court proceedings.
The proposed plan seeks to address activities with significant effects on water quality, such as land use intensification, urban dischargers, wintering and stock access to waterways.