Federated Farmers has welcomed plans to ease consenting requirements for river gravel extraction and small on-farm quarries, saying the proposed changes could reduce costs and improve flood management.
National president Colin Hurst said the announcement addresses two of the 10 national permitted activity standards the organisation called for in its 2026 Election Platform.
Under the proposed national standard, farmers who comply with specified conditions would be able to extract gravel from rivers without obtaining a resource consent.
Hurst said the current system can subject farmers to different consenting requirements depending on where they operate, creating additional expense, delays and uncertainty.
“We’ve been saying for a long time that farmers need certainty and sensible rules, not different consenting regimes all over the country,” he said.
Federated Farmers argues that easier gravel extraction could also assist with flood protection by allowing accumulated material to be removed from riverbeds. Hurst pointed to recent flooding in North Canterbury and Wairarapa, saying gravel build-up can raise riverbeds and increase flood risks if waterways are not adequately maintained.
The organisation also wants simpler rules governing small on-farm quarries. Aggregate is commonly required for farm tracks, gateways, stock yards and other infrastructure, but Hurst said consenting costs and complexity can make extracting material on farms impractical.
“We shouldn’t have to navigate an expensive and time-consuming consent process just to get gravel for a farm track or remove gravel from a river,” he said.
Hurst said the organisation supported nationally consistent rules provided appropriate environmental safeguards remained in place.
They are now calling for a similar approach to the remaining eight areas identified in its proposed permitted activity standards: farm plans, vegetable growing, on-farm water storage, drain maintenance, effluent management, fertiliser application, wetland restoration, and small- and medium-scale solar developments.
