Todd McClay calls Canterbury Regional Council’s nitrate emergency declaration 'gimmicky'

The Agriculture Minister has labelled Canterbury Regional Council's decision to declare a nitrate emergency "gimmicky".

Environment Canterbury (ECan) carried a motion to declare a nitrate emergency at its final meeting on Wednesday.

It followed survey data which showed rising E. coli and nitrate concentration in Canterbury's groundwater

But Todd McClay told Morning Report he had seen reports that the nitrate emergency declaration felt gimmicky, and he agreed.

"I've seen reports that it feels a little bit gimmicky, just so close to election ... it was the last day before they're all going off and campaigning," he said.

"Although, there is an important point here away from the politics, and that's we've got to continue to work hard to get the rules right and give the tools to farmers and other users of the area to get nitrate levels down."

When asked if he felt it was a gimmick, McClay said it was as there had been a lot of work for a long period of time.

McClay said only a month or two ago, the council had asked them to change the law so that they didn't have to issue new consent to all farmers as changes were going through central government.

"We have been working very closely together with them. Farmers are meeting their obligations," he said.

"We're seeing areas where there has been great improvement, other areas where we need much more work to be done.

"And so, on the very last day, it did feel a bit gimmicky, but I don't want to distract from the wider point that we're all working hard to improve water quality."

McClay said too much nitrogen was a problem and can be in many parts of the country.

"The approach that we've had for a period of time is farm plans (and) environmental farm plans.

"There's about 84 percent of farms covered by those now. That's up from about 32 percent in 2021.

"So again, progress is being made, but ultimately, I think what we're going to do is keep working with the council and the council themselves, rather than passing votes, continue to work with farmers to get good tools and to get the balance right."

'Farming committee is working very, very hard'

McClay said the farming community felt they were being picked on and this was causing frustration.

He said farmers work hard to meet their obligations.

"Where we do have water quality problems around the country, they haven't just arrived overnight, and solutions themselves can't be put in place instantly.

"The farming committee is working very, very hard. I found them constructive over the last 18 months in what we're trying to do to get the rules right (to) get some balance, not just put cost and bureaucracy in place.

"I can see why they're frustrated, but I guess I would say that we're going to hear a bit more of this through the election campaign."

McClay said once they knew who the new council was, it would be important for everybody to find a way to work together because improvements were needed.

He said they had to make sure they were not just putting costs on farmers and other water users.

'We're working closely with councils'

McClay rejected the suggestion that the government's lack of firm decision-making had made things harder.

"They're not correct in that because ultimately what we've said is we are replacing the national policy statement for freshwater management," he said.

"We're working closely with councils, but the existing rules remain in place whilst we work through that.

"The reason we have said they should stay in place rather than continuing to make the changes they would have done to the old system is when we have the new system in place and the new policy statement early next year, they'd have to do the work again."

McClay said it would just be a waste of their time and a waste of their cost.

He also pointed out that the motion's vote to declare a nitrate emergency was only nine in favour, and seven against.

"That doesn't suggest that widely all of the council are saying that. But ultimately, we're committed to making sure we have good smart rules in place throughout the country so local communities can make decisions for themselves about how best to achieve water quality.

"We're determined to deliver those over the rest of this year to get it in place and the new council will have much opportunity to work with us and other water users for better outcomes in Canterbury."

'They still have the tools'

McClay said the new freshwater legislation can be expected within two years.

"We've been out consulting just a few months ago, considering the feedback we've got and now there'll be one more round of consultation just to make sure we get it right, because it is very, very complicated and complex and you can expect that in place in the first quarter of next year."

He also rejected the argument that the council's hands were tied behind their back until that was in place.

McClay said the council had approached them to make changes themselves, which they work with them on.

"They still have the tools that they need to do these things," he said.

"It's not like between now and the council election, anything good or anything bad's going to happen.

"This is a process we're all going to keep working on, because where there are water quality challenges around the country, they haven't arrived just overnight, and the solution takes time.

"But in Canterbury, we have seen improvements and just that that many farmers have farm plans in place in itself is a significant achievement."

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