Urban sprawl: Auckland's fertile land increasingly used for housing
According to figures included in a recent Environment Court decision, the irreversible cumulative loss of Auckland's prime horticultural land is accelerating.
A group of farmers and landowners had sought to overturn an Auckland Council decision rejecting their proposal to expand the Rural Urban Boundary and the Future Urban Zone across more than 83 hectares of land near Auckland Airport. But last month the Environment Court rejected the landowners' plans to re-zone the land.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/436084/urban-sprawl-auckland-s-fertile-land-increasingly-used-for-housing
Government plans to scrap 30-year-old Resource Management Act
The government will scrap the Resource Management Act (RMA) and replace it with three new pieces of legislation.
The three new Acts will be:
- Natural and Built Environments Act (NBA) to provide for land use and environmental regulation,
- Strategic Planning Act (SPA) to integrate with other legislation relevant to development, and require long-term regional spatial strategies,
- Climate Change Adaptation Act (CAA) to address complex issues associated with managed retreat and funding and financing adaptation.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/436124/government-plans-to-scrap-30-year-old-resource-management-act
Fonterra discharging nitrogen-heavy water onto 'ghost farms'
Fonterra cleared the cows from 16 farms and is using the land to dispose of wastewater, which could be leaching a colourless, tasteless and odourless pollutant into private drinking water supplies.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/436030/fonterra-discharging-nitrogen-heavy-water-onto-ghost-farms
Fonterra looks at better wastewater treatment to cut nitrate levels
Fonterra has admitted nitrate levels in drinking water near one of its 'ghost farms' have been high, and is looking at building a new wastewater treatment plant.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/436122/fonterra-looks-at-better-wastewater-treatment-to-cut-nitrate-levels
Patchy rain falling in parched northern areas, but most expected in south and west
Patchy rain has fallen in some parched areas as an active front moves towards the country out of the Tasman Sea, with most of the rain expected in the west and south of the South Island.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/124183297/patchy-rain-falling-in-parched-northern-areas-but-most-expected-in-south-and-west