A Freshwater Farm Plan (FWFP) will be your tool to help you identify the environmental risks on your farm and make plans to manage and mitigate those risks. It will identify practical on-farm actions to help improve local waterways. These will depend on your farm’s location, catchment, and local environment, and will provide a more flexible alternative to resource consent and one-size-fits-all approaches.
The coalition Government has signaled its intention to review the Freshwater Farm Plan regulations to ensure they are cost-effective and pragmatic for farmers and growers. This is likely to take some time and we appreciate this brings some uncertainty. What is evident is that the FWFP regulations themselves will remain, and we wait for further direction from central government on the final form that they will take. In the meantime, the Order in Council process (this activates the regulations in each region across the country) has been paused until this review is complete. This means that the previously indicated dates for when the FWFP regulations might apply in Tasman non longer apply.
The Soil and Landuse Team, through their Catchment Facilitators, will keep you up-to-date with news and events. They are presently working hard behind the scenes collating catchment information that will help you complete your farm's FWFP, providing support, and making the information needed for the successful development of these plans available here on the Rural Hub.
If you have any questions, please contact a catchment facilitator via email ruralinfo@tasman.govt.nz email or phone 03 543 8400 and ask to be put through to Kat, Brigid, or Helen.
We can also keep you updated on any changes to this page that may affect you. Click on the green button below to sign up to receive updates from the Rural Hub team.
More information: Freshwater farm plans | Ministry for the Environment
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