By Neal Wallace and Gerald Piddock
It has taken a decade of lobbying by growers, but the government has finally introduced planning controls to protect New Zealand’s most productive land and soils.
The government has released its National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL) to protect the country’s best soil – on land classes 1, 2 and 3 – from housing subdivision and development, and keep it in food production.
HortNZ chief executive Nadine Tunley said her organisation has long advocated for government policy that recognises the importance of the country’s best soils, and ensures the land is used for what it is best for – producing healthy vegetables and fruit.
“All along we have said that with good planning NZ can have fresh vegetables and fruit, and houses,” she said.
The NPS-HPL will require councils to identify, map and manage highly productive land to ensure it is available for growing vegetables, fruit and other primary production, Environment Minister David Parker said.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said in the past 20 years, about 35,000ha of NZ’s most productive land has been carved up for urban or rural residential development, and a further 170,000ha has been converted to lifestyle blocks.
The NPS-HPL is complementary to the National Policy Statement-Urban Design, which Parker said will reduce demand for outward urban growth on highly productive land.
“This recognises that using land for primary production needs to occur within environmental limits and ensures that all land can be used and managed to best effect,” he said.
In limited cases, councils will still be able to rezone highly productive land for urban housing if less-productive land is not available, or if certain tests can be met.
“However, the NPS-HPL will introduce strong restrictions on the use of highly productive land for new rural lifestyle developments.”
Auckland Council general manager of plans and places John Duguid said NPS-HPL gives Auckland Council three years to map highly productive land and include it in the council’s Unitary Plan.
“We will use the existing New Zealand Land Resource Inventory mapping and council’s FARMLUC dataset as a base to begin from.”
Tunley said protecting the country’s best soils is only part of the battle HortNZ is waging to ensure growers can remain in business and consumers have freshly grown fruit and vegetables.
“It’s no use protecting our best land if growers cannot get access to inputs like freshwater, are bogged down with compliance, and can’t afford fertiliser or to transport their produce.
“At the same time, growers need to know they have a skilful and reliable workforce available to plant, pick and pack.”
Not all growers support the NPS. Levin-based Woodhaven Gardens managing director John Clarke is concerned it will restrict the options of landowners to sell their farms for the best possible price – particularly if regulations and consenting make it difficult for farmers to farm.
“I don’t think it’s fair. I can understand protecting the ability to grow food but we have a huge resource that can do that.”
Federated Farmers arable chair Colin Hurst said while he backs NPS-HPL’s intent, he would prefer to see the statement restricted to class 1 soils only, rather than 1,2 and 3.
“As it is, it will capture 14% of New Zealand, which is quite a large area.”
In comparison, NZ’s total area of class 1 and 2 land is 5.2%, according to the NZ Society of Soil Science.
Hurst was also concerned about the workload it will place on regional councils.
He supported the statement’s requirements around managing reverse sensitivity. These will see local government include objectives, policies, and rules in their district plans that recognise that farming activity took place on land prior to urban development and as a result, should be allowed to continue.
“It’s giving farmers the right to carry on farming.”
The statement is trying to balance the need to house and feed people, he said. Farmers and growers want to protect their soils, but striking a balance between that and not eroding property rights is tricky – “but at a high level, we need to protect these soils because once you put houses on them, they’re lost forever”.
