The Government has finished its consultations on four elements of the essential freshwater work programme – changes to the low-slope map for stock exclusion, freshwater farm plans, changes to the intensive winter grazing rules and wetlands. See here for more information including our factsheets and submissions.
Essential freshwater rules released: update August 2020
On 5 August 2020 the Government released the freshwater policy, standards and stock exclusion regulations relating to this consultation.
- FACTSHEET: B+LNZ & Federated Farmers’ assessment of the new essential freshwater rules –18 August 2020 (PDF, 711KB)
- WEBINAR RECORDING: B+LNZ’s Corina Jordan covers the new rules and answers questions – 24 August 2020
You can find the new rules here:
- National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020
- National Environmental Standards for Freshwater
- Resource Management (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020
B+LNZ will continue to provide updates on what’s happening, next steps, and how we’ll be helping farmers over the coming weeks and months with information and support.
Government announces amended Essential Freshwater Policy: Update May 2020
The Government has announced its revised proposals on Essential Freshwater. The Government has released a high-level summary of the proposed policies and will not be releasing the actual standards and National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management until mid-year.
The following is a link to a paper by B+LNZ summarising the key elements of the proposed new policies and what they mean for sheep and beef farmers
BakerAg research on the Government’s essential freshwater proposals
Beef + Lamb New Zealand commissioned rural consultancy BakerAg firm to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the Government’s proposed freshwater policies and the economic impacts.
- BakerAg Economic Analysis of the Essential Freshwater Proposals on sheep and beef farms (PDF, 11MB)
- Summary of the BakerAg research on the Essential Freshwater Proposals (PDF, 373KB)
- Media Release: Beef + Lamb New Zealand calls for changes to freshwater proposals
Beef + Lamb New Zealand's Submission on the Government's essential freshwater proposals
Here are links to B+LNZ’s submission and the appendices on the essential freshwater proposals:
- Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s submission to the Ministry for the Environment and Ministry for Primary Industries on the Freshwater Proposals (PDF, 1.5MB)
- Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Appendices to their submission on Essential Freshwater Proposals (PDF, 18MB)
Ministry for the Environment's freshwater consultation
The Ministry for the Environment's 'Action for healthy waterways: A discussion document on national direction for our essential freshwater' sets out proposals to stop the degradation of waterways and restore them to a healthy state.
The period for submissions closed on 31 October 2019.
- Download the Ministry for the Environment's main consultation documents at: https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/action-healthy-waterways-discussion-document-national-direction-our
- Watch video: 'Changing Environmental Policy: What you need to know and do' presentation from the B+LNZ roadshow.
Key proposals
- Draft National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management
- Proposed National Environmental Standards for Freshwater
- Draft Stock Exclusion Section 360 Regulations
Submission templates and factsheets
B+LNZ developed a range of documents for farmers during the submission process for farmers wanting to have their say on the government’s freshwater proposals.
We prepared factsheets and template submissions, including the following WORD templates:
- Essential Freshwater Farm Submission template (WORD, 181KB)
- Blank Essential Freshwater Farm Submission template (WORD, 168KB)