Cabinet will get a first-hand account of agricultural development in the Mackenzie, Ohau and Omarama Basins after a visit to the areas yesterday by Minister of Agriculture David Carter.
Mr Carter, along with associate Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson and Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean, visited farmers in the three areas to look at a range of issues, from proposals for dairy farms to tenure reviews.
While controversy rages over plans to develop 16 new dairy farms with up to 17,850 cows in the Omarama and Ohau areas, Mr Carter emphasised yesterday's visit was not just about that.
The visit had been arranged late last year before the controversy erupted over claims of "factory farming" on the farms.
"It's been a number of years since I've been here and I wanted to see for myself what was going on," Mr Carter said.
Cabinet has asked for consultation with interested parties over the proposed dairy farms before Minister for the Environment Nick Smith makes any decision by early next month on whether resource consents applications for effluent and odour discharges and land use consents for effluent storage for the dairy farms should be called-in under the Resource Management Act.
Mr Carter said he would be discussing with Mr Smith the results of his visit yesterday.
The visit was not solely for the dairy farms.
He visited an established dairy farm between Omarama and Twizel yesterday, but not the three farms proposed for intensive dairy development at Ohau Downs, Glen Eyre Downs and Killermont Station.
Mr Carter said the area was "a beautiful, iconic, fragile landscape", and care was needed on how its future was managed.
While there were challenges with future management, Mr Carter acknowledged the need for farming to be viable, and that would require some future investment in irrigation.
One property he visited was the 6000ha Simons Hill Station, between Lakes Pukaki and Tekapo.
It has irrigation for 150ha, but has applied for water to increase that to 2400ha.
With the three Members of Parliament were officials from the Department of Conservation (Doc), Land Information NZ and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Dean said one issue they were discussing with farmers was tenure review, which included access across surrendered and freehold land, Doc management of land for which it took over responsibility, and time frames.
The same issues applied across the high country, they said.
