National to free up rules around rural water storage, growing crops

Farmers will no longer need a resource consent to build water storage in most situations if National is in power, Agriculture and Trade spokesperson Todd McClay says.

He said the country's economy is based on its primary sector so National will make it easier to invest in water storage, and cut other red tape that was limiting food production, such as a requirement to get resource consent to grow fruit and vegetables.

"The primary sector - including horticulture, viticulture, forestry and pastoral farming - contributes more than three-quarters of New Zealand's goods exports and underpins the standard of living of every New Zealander.

"However, farmers and growers are immensely frustrated by over-bearing regulation that holds back higher productivity and investment and does not protect the environment."

Unlocking potential through water storage is one of 12 policy priorities requested by Federated Farmers for the new government to act on.

The country had abundant freshwater, but less than 10 percent was captured and stored, McClay said.

"Current rules make it all but impossible to build new water storage," he said with consents often taking years and costing millions of dollars.

"As a result, farmers are left with unreliable access to water, and urban areas face water restrictions in dry years."

Resource consents for water storage on land would be eliminated. However, because water is a precious resource, consents would still be required to take water from rivers or lakes. The party intended having more to say on this topic in its soon-to-be-released freshwater policy.

McClay said horticulture was a vital part of the primary sector and no consent should be required to grow fruit and vegetables commercially.

"Even rotating crops requires permission from regional councils. This endless bureaucracy is a major contributor to vegetable prices rising 56 percent since 2020, adding to the cost-of-living crisis."

The main points National is proposing:

• No longer require farmers to have a resource consent to build a water storage pond on farmland, unless wetlands or Significant Natural Areas are affected
• Councils will be required to approve or decline consents for other types of water storage within two years of an application
• Consents for water storage will be extended to 30 years. Under Labour, consents only last 10 years, not long enough to recover investment costs
• Make commercially-grown fruit and vegetables for human consumption a permitted activity under the Resource Management Act, meaning growers will not have to obtain a resource consent to grow food or rotate crops within a catchment

"These changes will get rid of rid of restrictions that most New Zealanders would be surprised to know even exist," McClay said.

While some regulations were needed to protect the environment, some rules existed "for rules' sake" and added to cost pressures and they would be axed if National won the election, he said.