By Rachel Keedwell, chair of Horizons Regional Council
When I read the piece in Farmers Weekly last week from Federated Farmers Manawatū-Rangitīkei president Ian Strahan, there were parts I could agree with.
Kiwi farmers are working hard to improve the environment, supported by Horizons through programmes like the Sustainable Land Use Initiative and partnerships via groups including the Manawatū River Leaders’ Accord.
Strahan is also right about farmers doing it tough with high inflation, rising interest rates and low commodity prices. I want to thank him and the other Federated Farmers members who spoke to our Long-term Plan hearings recently. Their message came through loud and clear.
However, suggesting we are not listening to farmers, or are totally out of touch with our rural communities, misses the mark.
Our staff have been working for the best part of four years to implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM), a mandate from central government we must deliver on.
That featured multiple rounds of consultation, including targeted engagement with farmers and industry groups, often on very tight timeframes. Multiple groups have said those deadlines, set by central government, were too tight.
Extending our freshwater One Plan change notification date to 2026/27 should help.
The change of government is bringing changes to policy direction. Horizons is stuck between a rock and a hard place on many of those changes: the rock is the government’s signalled, but not legislated, changes; the hard place is our legal requirement to continue progressing work until laws are changed. Our NPS-FM work fits directly into this difficult place.
I know the provisional water quality targets were hard for many to see last year. They showed not only the decades of damage done to waterways via a range of inputs, but also the significant amount of work needed to restore their health. It’s a very real situation that is no one person’s fault, but the responsibility of everyone to remedy.
Horizons specifically consulted with rural communities on these provisional targets. The roadshow we ran, going to rural towns and villages, is proof of that.
People from those places, as well as groups like Federated Farmers and catchment collectives, gave their views, which will play a part in formulating the freshwater One Plan change.
The economic and social analysis on the provisional targets is taking longer than we wanted. Every regional council is doing the same work, requiring the same experts, causing delays. We have committed to another rural roadshow when we have this analysis.
Rates is another big issue. Horizons, like most councils, relies on rates to fund the work we do. Bluntly charging rates based on the value of property, regardless of ability to pay, is not a good system. It is, however, the one we must work with.
A 6% rates increase used to be considered large. This year, the national average is more than 15%. At least one council is proposing above 30%. Horizons’ average proposed increase is 12.9%.
I know this is unaffordable for people already struggling to make ends meet. Some have said potentially changing our Uniform Annual General Charges is the biggest impact on rural rates. But high rates increases across the country are a disaster that has been building for a long time.
Central government’s share of taxes as a percentage of GDP has effectively tripled in 100 years. Rates have remained basically flat.
Despite this, Horizons continues to be legally required by central government to carry out more and more work without any extra funding to help.
Councils have asked central government for help, such as returning the GST paid on rates or regular co-investment in flood protection and climate mitigation assets, but for now we are stuck with the funding model we have.
High inflation and rising insurance costs have hit Horizons too, with the second of those especially significant on river and drainage schemes. Councillors are investigating how we can minimise those impacts.
With farmland valued highly, I know the impact of rates increases is keenly felt in rural areas. Ruapehu, Tararua and Rangitīkei districts will feel it harder due to property revaluations in the past year.
About one in 25 properties in the region have a proposed rates increase of 30% or more, which jumps to three in 25 properties across Ruapehu, Tararua and Rangitīkei. The impact of revaluations is also outside of our control – another part of the broken rates system we have.
My colleagues and I around the council table are listening to all voices, including those of farmers, during the freshwater reform and Long-term Plan processes. We, like you, are working to do our best in uncertain times to deliver the best possible results we can for all.
