In an increasingly challenging environment, a rural consultancy based in Canterbury is successfully bridging the gap between farmers and regulatory bodies. The team at Rural Consulting combines on-the-farm know-how with extensive work experience amongst local, regional and national government to provide strategic guidance that’s moving rural communities forwards. Managing Partner and Principal Resource Management Consultant Harry Millar reckons over the last decade or so the spotlight on Kiwi farmers has been heating up. “Environmental compliance, in particular, has become quite a talking point, and with that has come a real need for trustworthy and reliable advice.” Rural Consulting was started by Josh Brown in 2017 as the Canterbury Regional Council’s sub-regional plan was being developed. Josh, now a Principal Consultant for the company, was asked to coordinate the establishment of a group to provide some advocacy for the primarily sheep and beef farmers in the Hurunui Waiau catchments, where proposed rule changes were anticipated to have an impact. Harry says the company has grown from there, and working with catchment groups remains one of its super-strengths. “We’re very much playing the role of conduit between the farming community and regulatory and other government bodies, bringing the two together through our unique skills and energy to keep stuff moving.” Projects are community-driven, with Rural Consulting often securing public funding to see them through. Examples include 17 kilometres of riparian planting and the delivery of more than 300 farm environmental plans as part of a two-year project. “There, we assisted them (farmers) with first understanding the regulatory context that they were living in and what that might look like in the future and then preparing a farm environment plan that would put them in a really good position going forward,” Harry says. Right now, team members are working with various stakeholders to improve a critical resource consent process causing a headache for some. Many farmers in the area are required to apply for resource consent for aspects of their farming operation as well as water permits for their irrigation. “They’ve found some real challenges with the current consenting pathway with the regional council,” Harry says. “We’re actively working on a project with them at the moment in collaboration with the regional council to look at solutions and potentially a better pathway for consenting - what that might look like and what we would need to put together in terms of a framework to make it fit for purpose to be slotted into the next regional plan.” Rural Consulting also works one-on-one with farmers, and it is far from any box-ticking exercise. Harry says the focus is on a strategic approach that integrates market requirements and farm potential alongside environmental compliance. “We can see some real opportunity here (in New Zealand at this point in time) to do things better, right across the board, in terms of natural resource management, and we see farmers themselves as the catalyst for that. “The reality is, as an export country, we need to still have a resilient agricultural industry. Farming in balance with the surrounding environment is our competitive advantage, and we need to hold onto that reputation. “We are really keen to continue to lead those conversations and with our advice at the farm level our clients, going forward, should be in a really good position to make sure that they are also resilient.” GROUP FACILITATION • ETS OPPORTUNITIES • PLANNING & CONSENTING RURAL C 027 774 7770 harry@ruralconsulting.co.nz ruralconsulting.co.nz Bridging Today and Tomorrow: Smart Moves for a Shifting Landscape
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=