Gore farmers are deeply concerned about plans to declare their entire district a Site and Area of Significance to Māori, Southland Federated Farmers says.

"This is a highly unusual approach to handling iwi interests and could have a chilling effect on ordinary farming activities," provincial president Jason Herrick says.

"Moving ahead with the proposed district plan as it stands will add a whole lot of bureaucracy to lots of day-to-day tasks, but not add a lot of value for anyone."

Herrick says this isn’t just an issue for Gore either.

"What’s happening here could set an unfortunate precedent for resource management processes in other parts of the country as well."

The standard Sites and Areas of Significance to Māori (SASM) approach in district plans is for mana whenua and other iwi to identify sites of significance to them.

This could include marae and pā sites, urupa (burial grounds), maunga (mountains, hills), rock carvings, and waahi tupuna (ancestral sites).

Rules or standards can be built in to ensure activities or resource consent applications are subject to protections or conditions for such identified sites.

"Farmers want to be respectful of genuine sites of significance for our local iwi and to ensure proper protections are in place," Herrick says.

"But to declare the entire district as a site of significance is a massive overreach that is really going to put farmers’ noses out of joint and divide the community."

The Gore District Council have taken an approach where they won’t define specific sites of significance because Māori interact with the entire natural environment.

"This is going to be a major headache for local farmers and add a lot of unnecessary cost and complexity to even the most basic farming tasks," Herrick says.

He says Federated Farmers have identified 91 rules or standards in Gore’s plan where Māori values will need to be assessed.

"These include everything from digging dead holes and farm rubbish pits through to earthworks for silage pits and the construction and maintenance of farm tracks.

"There will also be issues with the height of poles, masts and other infrastructure, and the maintenance of existing defences against water."

These rules won’t just affect farmers either, Herrick says.

He says people will also need a cultural assessment for things like cycling and walking tracks, small-scale wind and hydro turbines, subdivisions and installing a septic tank.

"These rules capture far more than is necessary, and we’re incredibly concerned they will just add cost, delay and paperwork - for absolutely no gain.

"It would have been much easier to comply if the council had actually recognised areas that were truly and genuinely significant to the iwi.

"If farmers know a site used to be a pā, or ancestors are buried there, we’d respect that and simply put our shed or water tank somewhere else.

"But farmers need some certainty about where those significant sites are so we can get on with our jobs - we’re trying to run businesses."

Herrick says farmers will also need some flexibility.

"If we have a slip that takes out a farm access track or fence line, we’ll need to be able to get out there and fix it.

"Under these new rules, repairs and maintenance of accessways, or land disturbance for the construction of fences, would need a cultural impact assessment."

Herrick says Federated Farmers aren’t disputing the significance of the environment or the whenua (land) for Māori.

"We just want to understand what sites are truly significant to iwi.

"As the rules are currently written, they will drive conflict because they regulate and restrict even the most minor activities."

He says it’s unclear from available detail how cultural value assessments will work in practice.

Questions are also being asked about whether council - and iwi - have the resources to carry out assessments in a timely manner.

Hearings of submissions on the Proposed Gore District Plan started in June and run through to March next year.

Herrick says Federated Farmers also have concerns about provisions in the plan for Significant Natural Areas (SNAs), financial contributions and other aspects.

"We’re keen to better understand what’s trying to be achieved, so we can propose solutions and retain flexibility and practicality for farming," Herrick says.

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