Federated Farmers said yesterday, on the other hand, a "false narrative" seemed to exist wherein farmers were causing serious harm to the environment and the Otago Regional Council’s forthcoming plan was required to stop it.
Both groups are scheduled to speak during the public forum at tomorrow’s council meeting at the Hutton Theatre at Tūhura Otago Museum in Dunedin.
A vote on whether to notify the plan at the end of the month, or delay notification as has been requested by government ministers, is due to take place after 1pm at the all-day meeting.
The council yesterday published its proposed plan and its section 32 evaluation report alongside the meeting agenda.
Federated Farmers Otago president Luke Kane said the advocacy group remained concerned about the cost and practicality of the council’s proposed new rules.
"The immediate legal effect of many of the plan’s provisions is extremely concerning," Mr Kane said.
"Some of the proposed rules have not been included in any consultation and could seriously threaten the viability of many Otago farms, for example, stock exclusion rules for wetlands.
"There seems to be a real false narrative out there that farmers are causing huge environmental damage and that this plan is required to stop it."
He called for more consultation and said having Te Mana o te Wai underpinning the plan was "incredibly problematic" and would create difficulties when it came to putting the proposals into practice.
"There’s no way they should be voting to pass these rules this week.
"If the council do push ahead this week, they will be seriously misreading the mood and views of our wider community, and I think they’ll be held accountable at the ballot box," Mr Kane said.
Forest & Bird freshwater advocate Tom Kay said the intensification rules in the national environmental standard for freshwater expired in January.
It was his understanding that if there was a delay in notifying the plan there could be a gap in the plan between the disappearance of the national environmental standard rules and the notification of the new plan.
"So if the plan notification is delayed, it could leave a hole in the planning framework whereby applications to intensify farming could slip through in the interim."
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has, since late last year, warned the council that to notify the plan before the national policy statement for freshwater management (NPSFM) is reviewed and replaced by the government will create unnecessary costs for the council and ratepayers.
She offered the council the opportunity to take part in the review of the NPSFM if notification was delayed.
The staff report said notification without delay would avoid further, unbudgeted, costs for the council, stakeholders and the wider community associated with further analysis and plan development.
However, legislative changes after the plan was notified could also create a costly plan development process for all parties involved.
Those costs could not be quantified at this time, the report said.
It further risked the government taking "action against the council" in response to the decision, it said.
On the other hand, delaying notification of the plan would also result in costs and it was again not possible to estimate the additional cost, the staff report said.
A delay was likely to contribute to ongoing uncertainty for the community as well as water users and consent holders, it said.
