AUCKLAND - Federated Farmers

AUCKLAND 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

2013 PAPERS

CONTENTS 

Conference and AGM Programme .......................................................................................................................2 

Federated Farmers Auckland Minutes 

Minutes of THE Annual General Meeting, held 4 May 2012 ...............................................................................3 

Meat & Fibre Minutes 

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting, held 4 May 2012 .................................................................................5 

Dairy Minutes 

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting, held 4 May 2012 .................................................................................6 

Provincial President’s Report 

Wendy Clark .....................................................................................................................................................7 

Meat & Fibre Report 

Bruce Parris .....................................................................................................................................................8 

Dairy Report 

Philip Bell .........................................................................................................................................................9 

Goats Report 

John Woodward ..............................................................................................................................................11 

Franklin Sub-Province Report 

Andrew Cryer ..................................................................................................................................................12 

Rodney Sub-province Report 

John Glasson ..................................................................................................................................................13 

Policy Report 

Richard Gardner .............................................................................................................................................14 

Federated Farmers Auckland 

Annual General Meeting 2013 1

CONFERENCE AND AGM 

PROGRAMME 

BNZ PARTNERS BUSINESS CENTRE - 86 Highbrook Drive, East Tamaki 

12.00noon Registration and light luncheon 

12.40pm INDUSTRY GROUP AGMS 

Dairy Section 

TB Report 

Guest Speaker 

Kevin Robinson - National Dairy Executive 

MEAT & FIBRE 

TB Report 

2.05pm BREAK 

COMBINED CONFERENCE 

Guest Speaker 

Bruce Wills - President, Federated Farmers of New Zealand 

2.15pm Welcome by BNZ 

2.25pm PROVINCIAL AGM 

Apologies 

CLOSED SESSION 

Financial Report 

OPEN SESSION 

2.35pm Obituaries 

Minutes 

Matters arising 

President’s report 

Other reports: 

- Goats 

- Rodney 

3.30pm Afternoon Tea 

3.55pm Provincial AGM continues 

- Franklin report 

Election of Officers 

Remits and General Business 

4.45pm Policy Report - Richard Gardner - Senior Policy Advisor, Federated Farmers of New Zealand 

5.10pm Guest Speaker 

5.45pm Finish 

Bruce Wills - President, Federated Farmers of New Zealand 

6.30pm Dinner at Fisher House 

117 Kerwyn Avenue, Highbrook Business Park 



FEDERATED FARMERS AUCKLAND MINUTES 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, HELD 4 MAY 2012 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE 

AUCKLAND PROVINCE OF FEDERATED FARMERS HELD 

AT THE BNZ PARTNERS BUSINESS CENTRE, HIGHBROOK 

DR, EAST TAMAKI ON 4 MAY 2012. 

Members and guests were welcomed by the chair, 

Wendy Clark. 

Guest Speakers: 

Russell Burnard - NAIT 

Russell Burnard, from NAIT, was introduced by 

Bruce Parris. He advised that NAIT was moving from 

planning to implementation and the costs approved 

were $1.10 / tag, $1.35 / animal through the works 

and $13.0 / untagged animal. There were already 

11,000 farms registered for the scheme, which starts 

July 1 st . 

Q&A - Private sales - both vendor and purchaser 

register transaction with NAIT. The tag goes in the 

right ear and transport operators are not involved in 

the process. 

Peter Buckland and Rae Newth - BNZ 

Peter Buckland and Rae Newth spoke on their 

operation including the qualifications of their staff. 

They said they did customized investment procedures 

including equity farming investments and gave advice 

on expected returns and risks. 

Closed Session 

Moved that the meeting go into committee 

Treasurer’s Report 

Moved Bell/Cryer Carried 

Moved Cryer/Hamilton Carried 

The Treasurer reported that membership was up, but 

we had to dip into reserves. Honorariums had been 

approved to drop 50%. 

Moved that the meeting go out of committee 

Open Session 

Moved Clark/Cole Carried 

APOLOGIES: A McKenzie, R Gardner, M Wood, 

J Shaw, D Gellert, G Nelson, B Duder, 

J Hannah, L Honore 

Moved that the apologies be accepted 

Moved Clark/Smith Carried 

Obituaries: 

J Joyce, G Slack, M Price. The meeting stood as a 

mark of respect. 

Previous Minutes: 

Taken as read. 

Moved that the minutes are a true and correct record 

Moved Cole/Blythen Carried 

A presentation was made to James Colville for his long 

service to the Rodney sub-province. 

Reports: 

(included in the 2012 AGM papers) 

Franklin Report Moved Cryer/Cole Carried 

Items covered: 

Stock on roads 

Super City, 

RIG AND RAP working well 

Farm Day 

Thank you to executive and Richard Gardner. 

Rodney Report Moved Colville/Parris Carried 

Goats Report Moved Woodward/McAlley Carried 

Young Farmers Report Moved Smith/McAlley Carried 

Young Farmers Report was presented by Matt Smith. 

There are 4 branches north of the Bridge; Kaipara 

has 65 members-hope to reach 90. The Regional 

finals of the Young Farmers competitions was won by 

Catherine Tucker. The Grand final will be in Dunedin 

in May and Auckland will host the final next year. 

Elections of Officers 

Wendy Clark vacated the chair and David Rose 

assumed the chair. 

President - W Clark 

Nominated by Cryer/Ross. 

There being no further nominations W Clark was reelected 

unopposed. 

Vice-president - A Cole 

Nominated by Clark/Matheson 

There being no further nominations A Cole was 

elected unopposed. 

Treasurer - A Cole 

Nominated by Blythen/Clark 

There being no further nominations A Cole was 

elected unopposed. 



Executive - D Gellert, G Ross, J Hamilton, B Cameron, 

B McAlley, J Sexton, P York, W Cashmore, M Smith, 

D Blythen, J Colville and G Nelson 

Moved Clark/Hamilton Carried 

Sharemilkers’ representative - M MacNamara 

Second AHB representative - A Cole 

Moved Clark/ Bell Carried 

Moved Parris/Cashmore Carried 

Moved that the executive have power to co-op 

members to the executive as required 

Changes to the Constitution: 

Moved Clark/Parris Carried 

The meeting was advised of the situation where 

the changes approved by the AGM in 2001 and 

submitted to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies 

for approval were not showing on their website. This 

meeting would need to reaffirm the 2001 motion and 

also approve the further proposed amendments as 

circulated. 

Moved that the 2012 AGM of Federated Farmers 

Auckland endorse the motion passed at the 2001 

AGM approving amendments to the Constitution and 

approve the further amendments to Rules 3, 9, 10, 13 

and m17 as circulated to the membership. 

Remits: 

Moved Glasson/Sexton Carried unanimously 

The meeting was advised the remit passed at the 

Franklin AGM was no longer supported by the original 

mover. 

Moved that the motion be withdrawn 

General Business: 

Moved Parris/Bell Carried 

B McAlley spoke of his concern that the Federation 

was agreeing too readily to local authority demands 

on environmental issues. D Rose spoke of the 

situation in Southland, P Bell spoke of the situation 

with Fonterra and B Cashmore spoke about what 

conditions he hoped he could get the Auckland 

Council to agree to. 

B Parris reminded members of the upcoming 

meeting in Kaipara. The President put forward a list 

of possibilities that members could consider. Jock 

Patterson suggested the formation of community 

environmental committees. 

Phillip Bell pointed out that if honorariums were 

reduced, especially for the President, it would be 

difficult to attract members onto the executive. 

Guest Speakers: 

Stephen Stafford Bush 

Stephen spoke on the general economic situation, 

herd scheme issues and coping with ever increasing 

costs of consumables. 

David Rose - 

Board Member, Federated Farmers of New Zealand 

David spoke of the continuing role of Federated 

Farmers as an advocate for farmers, that we needed 

to have a closer liaison with the Police, the need 

to wear helmets on quad bikes and the possible 

outcomes from the Local Government Reform Bill. 

Jacqueline Rowarth - 

Chair of Agribusiness Studies at Waikato University 

Jacqueline gave a very encouraging foresight of her 

view of agriculture in New Zealand in 2050. Members 

present were pleased to hear of her enthusiastic 

support for the farming sector. 

Meeting ended at 5.30pm 



MEAT & FIBRE MINUTES 


MINUTES OF THE 2012 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

OF THE MEAT & FIBRE SECTION OF THE AUCKLAND 

PROVINCE OF FEDERATED FARMERS. 

APOLOGIES: D Gellert, B Cameron, J Hannah, 

L Honore 

Obituaries: 

J Joyce and G Slack . 

Minutes: 

Moved B Parris/B McAlley Carried 

As published in 2012 AGM papers. Apart from the 

mis-spelling of Brian Wenzlick’s name they were 

deemed a true and correct record. 

Matters Arising: 

Nil. 

Correspondence: 

Nil. 

Chairperson’s Report: 

See 2012 AGM papers. 


Moved Parris/Blythen Carried 

Moved Parris/McAlley Carried 

Discussion on failure to meet income targets for lamb 

e.g. $150. 

TB Report: 

See 2012 AGM papers. 


Moved Parris/Blythen Carried 

Dean Blythen expressed concern that with local 

authorities threatening to withdraw funding we should 

be advocating the overall benefits of the programme. 

Election of Officers: 

Chairperson - B Parris 

Moved Cashmore/Blythen Carried 

Vice-chairperson - no nominations received 

Animal Health Board - no nominations received 

Guest Speaker: 

James Parsons - Beef + Lamb NZ 

James spoke on red meat sector strategy and how 

benefits will be for the long term. Farmers are 

to maintain best practice on their farms and the 

outcome is dependent on the extent to which the 

Government will back it. Farmers need to exercise 

more control over their meat co-operatives. Meat 

companies should be given star ratings according to 

their performance in the market place. 

During Q&A Bill Cashmore requested Beef + Lamb 

publicly advocate the positive impacts farmers were 

having on the environment. 

General Business: 

NAIT - discussion about charges for untagged 

animals. 

Fencing of Streams - Meeting in Kaipara on 9 May 

advertised to talk about the Hoteo and proposed 

requirements around excluding stock from the river. 

Bill Cashmore reported on progress with the Auckland 

Council on stock exclusion from waterways policy on 

sheep and beef farms. 

Meeting ended 10.50am 



DAIRY MINUTES 


2012 AUCKLAND PROVINCE DAIRY ANNUAL GENERAL 

MEETING HELD 4 MAY 2012 AT BNZ PARTNERS, 

HIGHBROOK. 

Meeting opened 9am. 

WELCOME 

Philip Bell, Chairman 

ATTENDING: Philip Bell, Wendy Clark, Norm Clark, 

John Sexton, John Glasson, 

Geoff Axtens, Garth Ross, 

Wesley Mansell, Andrew Cryer, 

Louise Fleming, Martin McNamara, 

Matt Smith, Brian Matheson, 

David Yates, David Jamieson, 

Jean Hamilton, Alan Cole, Phil York, 

Stephen Stafford-Bush, Bruce Parry, 

Jock Patterson, Fraser Mansell, 

Crofton Hamilton, Milka Selak, 

Ivan Selak, James Houghton 

APOLOGIES: Michael Wood, John Shaw, 

Dan Colgan, Arthur and Jessie 

Houston, Gordon Nelson, 

Richard Gardner (Policy Analyst), 

Robin Barkla, Brian Duder 

OBITUARIES: 

Moved: Garth Ross / Seconded: John Sexton 

Jim Joyce, Graham Slack, Kay Sim 

MINUTES: 

True and correct 

Moved: Wesley Mansell / Seconded: John Sexton 

(No matters arising) 

ANIMAL HEALTH BOARD REPORT: 

John Glasson 

Auckland province clear, nationally TB trending 

down 

NAIT and ASD cards 

Parallel blood testing 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS: 

Chairman: Philip Bell 

Moved: John Sexton / Seconded: Garth Ross 

Vice Chairman: Andrew Cryer 

Moved: Bruce Parry / Seconded: John Glasson 

Animal Health Board Rep: John Glasson 

Moved: John Sexton / Seconded: Wendy Clark 

Sharemilkers’ employers: Martin McNamara 

Moved: Andrew Cryer / Seconded: David Jamieson 

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: 

Moved: Philip Bell / Seconded: Brian Matheson 

TAF/DIRA 

Clean streams accord 

Fonterra 10 year strategy 

Networkers’ conference 

GENERAL BUSINESS: 

Discussion on responsibility for effluent on leased 

land - lessee’s 

DIRA 

DIRA submissions to the select committee - 

Andrew Cryer 

GUEST SPEAKER: 

James Houghton, Waikato Federated Farmers 

Fonterra global dairy industry 

Variation 6 water take 

Riparian planting 

Keeping AHB levy collection with Waikato Council 

Meeting closed 11am 



PROVINCIAL PRESIDENT’S REPORT 

WENDY CLARK 

In the space of 12 months we have gone from one 

of the best seasons to one of the most widespread 

droughts on record. Some commentators scoffed at 

the need to declare the obvious when little material 

gain could be achieved by it. In fact, though farmers 

will not be getting hand-outs, declaration of drought 

activates a number of important responses from 

banks, Inland Revenue, rural suppliers, transport 

agencies, Rural Support Trusts and the Ministry for 

Primary Industries. 

Auckland Council’s focus this year has been on 

preparing the Unitary Plan and its land use rules. 

The outcome is a draft which, although not devoid of 

concerns, is at least workable and a far cry from the 

extreme provisions being drafted in other regions. I 

would like to think this is, at least in part, due to the 

efforts of Federated Farmers and the Rural Advisory 

Panel which have met on a monthly basis with council 

staff since the inception of the new Auckland Council. 

The Environmental groups accepted Federated 

Farmers proposals for the Exclusion of Stock from 

Waterways with the emphasize on intensive farming ( 

18 stock units/ha and above) and on outcomes rather 

than regulations. If the proposals are also accepted 

by the community and the political arm of council, 

set-backs and riparian plantings will be voluntary 

and incentivised. Intermittent streams will eventually 

be brought into the equation but there is a 10 year 

timeframe in which to achieve this. 

Significant Ecological Areas (SEAs) generated a lot 

of angst but the proposed rules have been limited to 

restrictions on clearing vegetation and forming new 

tracks inside these bush blocks with no requirement 

to fence. 

In the Rural Coastal Zone farmers are facing different 

rules to those in the normal productive zone. For 

example, it is proposed that farm buildings be 

restricted in size, height, location and colour. New 

buildings of more than 50 square metres will require 

resource consent and a 7 metre height limit is 

proposed. 

The Unitary Plan has included reference to the 

National Grid transmission lines buffer zones but 

propose all rural activities in these zones be permitted 

except for those already restricted by existing 

legislation. 

The Rural - Urban boundary will replace the current 

Metropolitan Urban Limit, restricting subdivision in the 

outside rural production zone but protecting farming 

operations from reverse sensitivity. Community 

consultation is required before a decision can be 

made about exactly where the boundary will be 

drawn. It is up to the community to decide which 

options they prefer to see future growth directed 

toward. 

Auckland Council has released its draft Annual Plan 

(rates) which is essentially a roll-over of decisions 

made in last year’s Long Term Plan. The .8 differential 

on rural land remains as does the very modest 

Uniform Annual General Charge. 

Rodney’s Variation 132 drags on. The Environment 

Court ruled that properties over 40 hectares within 

the West Coast Policy Areas would be bound by the 

same rules as the rural productive zone but Auckland 

Council appealed. This story is changing from day to 

day. 

Down in the Southern Franklin part of our region, the 

Waikato District Council undertook a Representation 

Review last year. They had talks with Federated 

Farmers on Transpower’s aspirations around National 

Grid buffer zones. The appeal on the now infamous 

Livestock Movement bylaw should reach a conclusion 

soon. See Franklin’s Report for more details on all 

these matters. 

I would like to thank both the Executive and the subprovincial 

committees for the work they undertake on 

behalf of our members, and in particular our senior 

policy advisor, Richard Gardner, without whom our 

efforts would not be half so effective or perhaps even 

possible. The amount of Plans he combs through and 

submits to on our behalf is extraordinary. 

Wendy Clark 

Provincial President 



MEAT & FIBRE REPORT 

BRUCE PARRIS 

It has been a hard season for sheep and beef 

farmers, with drought conditions and crashing prices 

for products. Even store stock has fallen of late, 

particularly sheep. The economic service for Beef & 

Lamb expects farm profit before tax to be down 50 

percent, which will cost the country billions. 

The lamb schedule is $2 per kilogram lower than the 

same time last year, but with the kill about 5 percent 

ahead. In Southland, they are pushing again for the 

amalgamation of the co-operative works with even 

Land Corp in favour. Hopefully they are successful, 

because a united marketing body would reduce the 

risk of weak selling. 

The voting return for the Primary Growth Partnership 

(PGP) was 24 percent, representing approximately 

50 percent of the sheep and beef industry with 77 

percent in favour. I do not disagree with the aim 

of the program, we should all be trying to improve 

productivity on our farms, but with 80 percent of 

farmers thinking they are in the top 20 percent, I 

can not see much chance of improvement. It is often 

said we can not feed the world, that our future lies 

in feeding the wealthy. I believe the information for 

improved production is available, if farmers take the 

time to find and use it. 

Wool Partners campaign raised approximately $6 

million, better than the minimum $5 million, but well 

short of the $10 million they were hoping for. The 

biggest influence on price is demand, so hopefully 

the Prince Charles wool promotion helps the public to 

recognise the benefits of our natural fibre. 

With drought affecting such a big area in the United 

States, they will need to rebuild numbers eventually. 

The schedule has been dropping for some months. 

At some stage this must turn around and, if the dollar 

was favourable, the schedule must rise. 

OSPRI is the new title for the combined Animal Health 

Board (AHB) and National Animal Identification and 

Tracing (NAIT). Both are still doing their core work. 

NAIT says the faster than expected uptake of the 

scheme has consequently resulted in a proposed 

reduction in fees, the tag levy going from $1.10 to 

90cents and the slaughter fee $1.35 per carcase to 

$1 excluding GST. However, it was disappointing to 

have a TB outbreak down in Northland. 

Bruce Parris 

Meat & Fibre Chairperson 




DAIRY REPORT 

PHILIP BELL 

Weather: 

A wet winter was followed by a good spring with 

production better than last year but by November the 

dry was starting and in February, along with most of 

the North Island we were declared a drought area 

.Some rain has fallen since then and the grass has 

greened up but good rain and warm weather are 

needed before winter. 

Production: 

Many herds have dried off early; others have reduced 

numbers and are on once-a-day. Winter Milk herds 

are facing a very difficult start to calving. Production 

was well ahead at the peak of the season but is now 

running as follows: Southern Northland and South 

Auckland are currently minus 10%Year-to-date, 

minus 46% season –to-date and minus 48% daily. 

Price: 

Fonterra recently announced an estimated Farm-Gate 

milk price of $5-80/kgMS coupled with a dividend of 

32c/share. This along with a lift in the advance of 50c 

was welcomed but it must be remembered that in 

November the estimate was a total of $6-40/kg. 

Lower production and higher feed costs will have a 

serious effect on many farms economic performance. 

A lot of supplementary feed has been used already. 

Growing conditions will need to improve considerably 

to enable farms to start well next season. 

Fonterra: 

John Wilson is the new Chairman of the Co-operative 

and Blue Read from Taranaki is the newest Director. 

TAF finally came into being in June with the passing 

of the second vote. The second resolution, to tidy 

up the introduction failed to get the required 75% of 

votes but when re-put at the A G M in December was 

passed .TAF has been the cause of much comment 

since the start of units trading on the stock-market. 

The full working of the system will not be tested until 

the new season gets going . 

DIRA: 

The review of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 

has been completed and in June 2016 the first 

independent processors will be weaned off DIRA milk 

from Fonterra. 

The Raw Milk Regulations have been reviewed. 

Purchasers can buy up to 5 litres of milk from 

farms. Producers must adhere to milk and hygiene 

regulations. 

Tailored Milking Times were introduced in January 

and seem to be operating smoothly. 

Also introduced is a new test for detergent residues in 

bulk milk. This is advisory this season but will attract a 

penalty in the next. There appears to have been little 

attempt to consult shareholders about the extent of 

the problem and I wonder if it could have been solved 

by education rather than penalty. 

Water Quality: 

As we all know this is a very important part of Dairy 

Farming. There are two main regulators that we are 

currently dealing with: 

1 Fonterra: Along with DairyNZ and others, Fonterra 

are introducing Clean Streams Accord 2, under 

which they will more closely monitor many 

aspects of discharges to water from dairy farms. 

2 The Auckland Council: Auckland Council’s draft 

Unitary Plan is out. The proposed dairy discharge 

rules can be submitted on until 31 May. Under 

the new proposals effluent storage ponds will be 

required, their volume determined by a Calculator. 

New ponds will have to be lined. These rules 

will become operative when the Plan is notified 

in October, after which time modifications to old 

ponds will also trigger the new rules. 

Another likely change is that silage stacks will have to 

be sited on an impermeable surface. Leachate will 

have to be contained but the Plan does not prescribe 

how farmers must manage this. 

The new rules for stock exclusion from waterways will 

not require more than what is required by Fonterra 

under the supply conditions that take effect on 1 

June. 

Water allocation limits are proposed with resource 

consent suggested for takes above 5 cubic metres/ 

day, excluding stock drinking water. This figure 

amounts to dairy shed wash-down water for no more 

than about 70 head; Federated Farmers will be 

submitting that the figure should be lifted to 15 cubic 

metres/day in line with the Waikato. However, we 

appreciate the objective is to ensure there is enough 

water for all going into the future. 

Resource Consent Holders: 

Independent of the Unitary Plan, 60 dairy farmers 

in the Auckland Region have resource consents to 

discharge treated effluent into a large volume of water. 

Many of these consents are coming up for renewal. 



Next time around they will be renewed for only seven 

years to fit with a Government deadline in the National 

Policy Statement on Freshwater. This is not to say 

that, after that, no consents will be issued but be 

aware that alternative methods of discharge are being 

encouraged by Council and the conditions around 

discharge to water are likely to be more onerous. 

Conclusion: 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my 

Deputy Chairman Andrew Cryer and the members of 

the Auckland Executive for their support throughout 

the year. 

Philip Bell 

Dairy Chairperson 




GOATS REPORT 

JOHN WOODWARD 

Another year of good returns to goat farmers. Dairy 

Goat payout is $17.5kg milk solids. The Co-op is 

looking for new producers of goat milk to fill new 

orders. They are expanding their processing plant in 

Hamilton to cater for expected growth in production. 

Mohair Prices have continued at high levels in spite of 

concerns with European and Japanese economies... 

Returns have remained steady; $8 for 35micron up to 

$30 for 25 micron. 

Goat meat prices, local trade, have fluctuated this 

year. The bottom line is being set by comparative 

sheep meat prices being influenced downward by 

the drought. Current schedule is $3.60 for 7 - 20kg 

carcasses. 

The farmability and Carla testing trial for Angora Goats 

at Waipu has given us some interesting data. Those 

Angoras with a Carla response had on average a 

30% reduction in fecal egg count. The trial showed 

there is a good population of easy care Angoras in 

New Zealand. Mohair producers need to adhere to 

rigorous culling programs to ensure easy care traits 

are maintained... This trial is to be continued for 

three years with the help of a sustainable farming 

grant. 

There will be a new chair person for Federated 

Farmers Goats 2013/2014, to be elected shortly. I am 

not standing for the chair this year. The position needs 

a person prepared to devote more time and energy to 

Federated Farmers. I can’t say enough about how well 

the Federation represents farmers in New Zealand. 

John Woodward 

President 

Federated Farmers Goats 



FRANKLIN SUB-PROVINCE REPORT 

ANDREW CRYER 

Franklin’s Rural Plan Change 14 is finally winding 

up the last of its appeals. Federated Farmers has 

persevered to the bitter end in the belief that most of 

the decisions arrived at through three or more years of 

mediation would be adopted by the Auckland Unitary 

Plan. We are now told that only 60% of them are likely 

to have found their way into the draft. 

Federated Farmers appealed to the Environment 

Court that forestry planting on the West Coast of the 

Awhitu Peninsula should remain a permitted activity. 

The basis of our appeal was that the Council had 

considered only the landscape when making its 

decision, with no regard for the social and economic 

impacts on the farming community. The Council 

said that production forestry was ugly because it was 

homogenous and planted in straight lines. 

While Federated Farmers “lost” the appeal, we felt the 

outcome was satisfactory in that it had been clearly 

established that the Awhitu Policy Area is ‘unique’ 

and therefore, the requirement for resource consent 

to plant production forestry would not be precedent 

setting. Furthermore, the Auckland Council withdrew 

their original intention to make all forestry in Franklin’s 

coastal areas a discretionary activity. And, in a Monty 

Python moment, they agreed that if the purpose of the 

forestry was conservation rather than production, it 

would remain a permitted activity. 

All good, we thought, but hidden away in the 

thousand pages of the newly released draft Unitary 

Plan, forestry in any Outstanding Natural Landscape 

is now earmarked to require resource consent. 

The draft Unitary Plan can be viewed on the Auckland 

Council website. A sophisticated Electronic Mapping 

site allows landowners to see how their own property 

may be affected by designations such as Outstanding 

Natural Landscapes and Rural Coastal Zones. You 

need to know this. The community has until 31 

May to make submissions which will be considered 

before the Plan is officially notified in October. Further 

submissions can then be made. 

Waikato District Council (WDC) undertook a 

mandatory Representation review at the end of last 

year. In a move also worthy of a Monty Python skit, the 

only notable change was to reduce the size of elected 

Council by one in the only ward that had a councillor 

stepping down at the next election. That ward, 

Onewhero, was amalgamated into the neighbouring 

ward, effectively reducing rural representation and 

creating a ward that geographically covers one third 

of the entire district. Some of our southern Franklin 

members appealed the decision, triggering a review 

by the Local Government Commission. The appeal 

was unsuccessful, mainly because the council was 

deemed to have consulted with the community, albeit 

minimally. Part of their stated “consultation” process 

was a workshop open only to councillors. The appeal 

did serve to highlight the lack of rationale behind 

the changes and to hold Council accountable for the 

decisions they make. 

It is nearly a year since Federated Farmers appealed 

parts of Waikato District Council’s Livestock Movement 

by-law which we felt were illegal. The Ministry of 

Transport has kept in touch on their progress over this 

period and expect to make a decision in the not-toodistant 

future. 

WDC met with Federated Farmers several months ago 

to discuss Transpower’s submissions to incorporate 

buffer zones into the District Plan. Subsequently 

Western Bays District Council employed an 

independent commissioner to study the same issue. 

He recommended that Council need do no more 

than indicate the buffer zones and direct prospective 

subdividers and builders to the relevant legislation. 

Transpower have appealed and a number of councils, 

including WDC, appear to be waiting for the outcome 

before progressing the issue themselves. 

Andrew Cryer 

Chairperson 

Franklin Sub-province 




RODNEY SUB-PROVINCE REPORT 

JOHN GLASSON 

The year, climate wise, turned up a great 2012 

autumn, was reasonably good through winter and 

spring, and dried out through late spring and summer. 

The dry spell has caused production to fade on dairy 

farms, which will probably wind up $30,000 short per 

100 cows milked by seasons end. Sheep prices are 

probably 50% down on last year as freezing works 

take money back from over-payment last season. Beef 

is steady. The “works” are full of cull dairy cows as 

farmers unload stock they do not want to feed. Bobby 

calf prices last spring doubled on the year before 

paying $50 – 60 compared to $20 – 25 in 2011. 

The dairy industry voted in Trading Amongst Farmers 

in the winter of 2012 and it came into operation in 

December 2012. Shares immediately rose from $4.52 

to over $7.00. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 

through its clients getting shares ( 7% according to 

some sources), made good gains. 

Streams and Drains Drain clearance rules are now 

under review and open to submissions from farmers 

through the draft Unitary Plan. The “clean 100 

metres – leave 100 metres” rule is not great when 

there’s no fall for miles and low-lying farmland is 

under water because portions of drains are blocked. If 

weeds such as alligator and willow weed are present, 

the whole length of the drain must be cleaned at 

the same time. Flat farmland needs to have its own 

rules as full drains through winter and spring are not 

conducive to economic farming. 

Variation 132 Nearly two years since first going to 

Environment Court in May 2011. Richard Gardner 

has been steering this along. It has cost Auckland 

Federated Farmers many thousands of dollars for 

a planner and a landscape architect to help with 

technical issues. At this point in time it is still not 

resolved. Financial contributions from Federation 

members in Rodney have not been great. 

Significant Natural Areas( SNA) Now called Significant 

Ecological Areas. Thousands have been ear -marked 

by Auckland Council staffers from photographs 

and Google maps. What to do if a large area of 

regenerative scrub or weed vegetation is incorrectly 

identified? Get it taken off the draft Unitary Plan by 

appointment with a member of Council’s Natural 

Heritage team AND make sure you accompany them 

when they visit. 

Dung Beetle has passed the tests required for release. 

However opposition has grown. Several articles lately 

in major newspapers have questioned the decision 

citing concerns over the potential for diseases that 

are already throughout our environment e.g. Giardia, 

salmonella etc. I don’t think community health will 

deteriorate with the beetles’ release. 

Sewerage: Neither Helensville or Wellsford have town 

sewage treatment systems which are up to scratch 

as far as discharge is concerned. Improvements 

have been made to Helensville. Water to work with 

is a problem at Helensville as the supply needs to 

be developed for expansion of population. With the 

proposed expansion of Auckland’s population, how 

rural township sewerage is to be handled is a good 

question to ask. 

The Rodney Christmas Function was held at the Top of 

the Dome. The dinner was very good. James Colville 

organised the function. 

Annual Plan hearings were held in Orewa at the end of 

March. 

Unitary Plan All farmers need to log onto the website, 

plot in their addresses on the electronic maps and see 

what the Council has in store for you. 

Congratulations James Colville has been appointed to 

the Rodney Board of the Auckland Council. 

Property Rights Despite our best efforts these 

continue to be whittled away by the bureaucrats. 

After years of blaming dairy farmers for dirty rivers 

it is pleasing to see articles starting to appear in 

newspapers saying townships need to get their 

act together when it comes to sewage treatment 

discharges. 

All the best for 2013 – 2014 

John Glasson 

Chairperson 

Rodney Sub-province 




POLICY REPORT 

RICHARD GARDNER 

The “new” Auckland Council rolls on, and is 

progressing through the tasks it is required by statute 

to undertake in a timely fashion. By and large the 

Council is engaging with its rural communities and 

endeavouring to do the right thing by them. The 

Council is working through the Rural Industry Group 

and the Rural Advisory Panel to understand the 

needs of the rural areas of Auckland, and Federated 

Farmers as a participant on these bodies is working 

hard to ensure the Council is made aware of those 

needs. 

The first task the new council undertook was to 

produce a spatial plan, known as the Auckland Plan, 

which is an over-arching vision for the region which 

deals with key infrastructure needs, the future location 

and mix of residential, business, rural production, and 

industrial activities and set specific areas aside for 

recreational, open space and ecological purposes. It 

will guide the region’s growth and development for the 

next 30 years. 

Federated Farmers had considerable input into the 

development of the Auckland Plan, both through the 

Rural Industry Group and the Rural Advisory Panel, 

and by way of its own submissions, generally in 

support of the Plan, in particular the recognition that 

there is a substantial innovative, rural, farm-related 

economy in Auckland. 

The Auckland Plan was adopted by the Council in 

late May. Federated Farmers prime objective, to 

ensure the on-going viability of primary production 

in Auckland, seems largely to have been adequately 

provided for. 

Work is now under way on the Unitary Plan, which 

will replace the existing legacy council regional policy 

statement and regional and district plans. Until the 

unitary plan is developed the former council areas 

will continue to work under their existing district 

and regional plans. For much of the year the Rural 

Advisory Panel focussed its attention on the various 

planning issues that are relevant to rural production, 

with particular attention being paid to stock access 

to waterways, and associated fencing and riparian 

planting initiatives. In this regard, agreement was 

reached on a satisfactory regime, which should 

avoid a lot of time being spent on the issue when 

the Unitary Plan goes through its statutory process. 

In general terms, where farmers are running 18 or 

more stock units per hectare, they will be required to 

prevent stock access to permanent waterways within 

five years, and intermittent waterways within 10 years. 

The Unitary Plan was released in draft form for 

consultation in mid-March, with submissions closing 

on 31 May. Generally it seems acceptable from a 

farming point of view, but there are concerns about 

the way the rural area has been split into several 

zones, with a considerable variety amongst the rules 

in those zones. The Unitary Plan also introduces 

the concept of overlays, which describe where such 

things as Outstanding Natural Landscapes (ONL), 

areas of High Natural Character (HNC) and Significant 

Ecological Areas (SEA) are. Each of the overlays is 

accompanied by its own sets of rules. 

Federated Farmers will be reviewing the draft of the 

Unitary Plan and making submissions as appropriate. 

However, it is strongly recommended that land 

owners review how the Unitary Plan affects their own 

properties, and make submissions to the Council 

accordingly. 

Despite the amalgamation of the former councils, 

Federated Farmers has a number of the legacy 

council plans that remain under appeal before the 

Environment Court: Appeals on the former Auckland 

Regional Council’s Air Land and Water Plan are still 

not completely settled, and appeals to the Papakura 

District Council’s Rural Plan Change, the Auckland 

City Council’s Proposed District Plan in respect of the 

Hauraki Gulf Islands, and the ARC’s Regional Policy 

Statement, Proposed Change 8 (Landscapes) are ongoing, 

and look likely to go to a hearing. 

The two major plan changes in Rodney and Franklin, 

Rodney’s Variation 132 and Franklin’s Plan Change 

14, proceeded to hearings during the year, with mixed 

results. 

Variation 132 introduces a new West Coast Rural 

Policy Area into the Rodney District Plan, covering 

much of the west coast of the District. The policy area 

affected by the Variation was reduced considerably 

by the Council decisions and the rules made more 

workable, but the Federation believed the overall 

proposal was still unjustified and thus appealed this 

proposal to the Environment Court. 

After a number of failed attempts at resolution of 

the matter, it proceeded to an Environment Court 

hearing late last year. The Court found that the 

overall coastal zone was justified, but that the rules 

were too restrictive for farmers on land of 40ha or 

greater, and instructed the parties to draw up some 

more appropriate rules. After some considerable 

to-ing and fro-ing, agreement was reached whereby 

the rules in the new Policy Area would be the same 



as those in the General Rural Zone, apart from a 

permitted activity limit on farm accessory buildings 

of 300m2 in area and 9m in height, and reduced 

limit on permitted vegetation clearance, but with an 

exception provided for emergencies. Housing is to be 

a restricted discretionary activity. Overall the result 

should be workable, and is a big advance on what 

was in the Variation when it was notified. 

The Franklin Rural Plan Change process is still 

continuing along, with the subdivision issue remaining 

unresolved. As mediations progresses, the Council 

reviewed the range of rural subdivision opportunities 

which came out of the “decisions version” of the 

Plan, increasing the opportunities in the central 

“Environment Enhancement Overlay Area” (EEOA), 

but curtailing them outside that area. Although 

Federated Farmers was successful in securing a 

limited amount of subdivision in the “outside” area, a 

group of local surveyors did not accept the Council’s 

position on that and some other matters, and took the 

matter on to a Court hearing. Amongst their proposed 

changes were a number of proposals which Federated 

Farmers supported in the mediations, in particular: 

riparian planting width of 15 metres, average 10 

metres; and up to 6 lots in the “outside” area. The 

hearing took place in early March, and the decision is 

awaited. 

The other Plan Change 14 matter which went to an 

Environment Court hearing relates to coastal forestry, 

which was provided for in the “decisions version” of 

the Plan as a discretionary activity around most of the 

coast in the District. The Council eventually agreed 

to permitted activity status for forestry, other than 

in the Outstanding natural landscape (ONL) area in 

the west of the Awhitu Peninsula, where it wanted a 

restricted discretionary activity status. Although the 

Court found in favour of the Council, it did so because 

it found that the landforms were unique, and that they 

should therefore be protected. It was hoped that this 

would limit the restrictions on forestry to the Awhitu 

Peninsula, but it seems that in the draft Unitary Plan 

forestry is to be a restricted discretionary activity in 

any ONL. 

Richard Gardner 

Senior Policy Advisor 

Federated Farmers of New Zealand 



www.fedfarm.org.nz I 0800 327 646

AUCKLAND - Federated Farmers

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