NPS-HPL Archives | Edmonds Judd

The future of indoor pig farming

July 30, 2024

Concerns that policy is threatening indoor pig farming

Concern has been expressed by industry body, New Zealand Pork (NZP), that the National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL) is threatening the future viability of indoor pig farms. It believes the NPS-HPL is preventing current indoor farms from increasing in size and is blocking new indoor farms from being established on productive land.

So what is the NPS-HPL, how does it affect current and future indoor pig farms, and what (if anything) is projected to change in the future?

The NPS-HPL was introduced on 17 October 2022. It was designed to protect productive land from encroaching urbanisation, such as housing, by restricting infrastructure development.

The NPS-HPL introduced a regime requiring regional councils to identify, map and protect land defined as ‘highly productive’ for use in ‘land-based primary production.’ Such identification relies on the Land Use Capability (LUC) system, which categorises land into eight classes of productivity. Land classified as LUC 1 is the most versatile and productive, and has the fewest limitations which makes it best suited for food and fibre production. LUC 8 is the least versatile and productive, and has the greatest number of limitations. LUC classes 1, 2 and 3 are protected by the NPS-HPL as ‘highly productive’ land.

Initial consultation on the proposed NPS-HPL suggested that the intention was to protect highly productive land for ‘primary production’ purposes. This was supported by NZP, but the published version of the NPS-HPL changed the wording from ‘primary production’ to ‘land-based [our emphasis] primary production’.

‘Land-based primary production’ is defined under section 1.3(1) of the NPS-HPL as, “production, from agricultural, pastoral, horticultural, or forestry activities, that is reliant on the soil resource of the land [our emphasis].”

Implications for indoor pig farming

NZP is concerned that while indoor pig farming is an intensive primary production activity that requires access to arable land, indoor pig farming is being interpreted by the Ministry for the Environment (MoE) and regional councils as being an ‘inappropriate land use’ under the NPS-HPL due to it not directly relying on the soil resource of the land. NZP states, “This interpretation of the policy will make it hard for new pig farms to be established and for existing farms to grow or change the way they do things.”

Farmers have expressed concern that there are no clear consenting pathways for building new, sector-specific infrastructure on highly productive land, nor are there pathways for the development of structures used for intensive indoor primary production and greenhouses.

Adding to that concern is that current indoor pig farmers may have to double their building footprints to comply with code of welfare changes. One pork farmer stated that two-thirds of commercial pig farms in New Zealand are situated on land classified as ‘highly productive’ under the NPS-HPL. The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee has proposed changes to the code for pigs, including increasing the amount of space where young pigs live.

As such, NZP has identified that it could be difficult for pig farmers to construct new buildings on productive land to meet any new welfare rules. The pork farmer indicated that his business would need to build another five new indoor sheds to meet the welfare code changes.

The future

NZP has asked the government to change the NPS-HPL to make sure it protects good farming while still allowing for indoor pig farming.

The MoE and the Ministry for Primary Industries have consulted stakeholders about amendments to the NPS-HPL that would provide more clarity around what can be built on highly productive land. Consultation closed in October 2023, and ministers are due to seek Cabinet approvals to changes later this year. It is unclear exactly what changes are being proposed.

On 4 July 2024, however, Minister of Housing Chris Bishop unveiled six changes the government plans to boost housing growth. The minister said the changes would free up land for development, remove unnecessary planning barriers and “ensure abundant development opportunities in our key urban areas” by making it easier to build new houses. These proposed changes seem to contradict the NPS-HPL, but may well resolve the issues that indoor pig farmers face under it.

We will keep you informed of how the proposed changes progress.

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Copyright, NZ LAW Limited, 2022. Editor: Adrienne Olsen. E-mail: [email protected]. Ph: 029 286 3650

Automated farming irrigation system in sunset

Protecting productive land

December 19, 2022

Amanda Leahy

Property, Rural

New policy statement: NPS-HPL

Following the Our Land 2018 joint report from the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ, as well as a certain amount of political pressure, the government gazetted the National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL) on 19 September 2022.

The NPS-HPL came into effect on 17 October 2022 (the commencement date) and requires every regional council to map as highly productive land any land in its region that is:

In a general rural zone or rural production zone
Predominantly Land Use Capability (LUC) 1, 2 or 3 land, and
Forms a large and geographically cohesive area.

This mapping must take place within three years from the commencement date.

Protection of urban expansion on highly productive land

The Our Land 2018 report found that, amongst other things:

‘Urban expansion is reducing the availability of some of our most versatile productive land. Studies based on changes in land cover indicate that between 1990 and 2008, 29 percent of new urban areas were on some of our most versatile land. Fragmentation can also be a pressure on urban fringes: in 2013, lifestyle blocks occupied 10 percent of New Zealand’s most versatile land. This may block future options for agricultural production.’

Accordingly, the intent of the NPS-HPL is to protect highly productive land for use in land-based primary production, both now and for future generations.

It does this by requiring the mapping of highly productive land and putting significant restrictions on the ability of local authorities to zone this land for subdivision, urban development or rural lifestyle purposes.

LUC 1, 2 or 3 land is arable land that is suitable for cropping, viticulture, berry fruit, pastoralism, tree crops and forestry. LUC class 1 has minimal limitations and is highly suitable for those uses whereas LUC class 3 has moderate limitations for those uses.

Regional councils may also map land that is not LUC 1, 2 or 3 land as highly productive if the land is, or has, the potential to be highly productive for land-based primary production in that region having regard to a variety of factors.

Exceptions

There are, as always, some exceptions: to the NPS-HPL. These are:

Land that, if already identified for future urban development, must not be mapped as highly productive land
Certain territorial authorities may allow urban rezoning of highly productive land if:
Urban rezoning is required to provide sufficient development capacity to meet demand for housing or business to give effect to a National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020
There are no other reasonable, practical or feasible options providing at least sufficient development capacity within the same locality and market while achieving a well-functioning urban environment, and
The environmental, social, cultural and economic effects of benefits of rezoning outweigh the long term environmental, social, cultural and any economic costs associated with the loss of highly productive land for land-based primary production, taking into account both tangible and intangible values.

There are further prescribed matters that the territorial authority must consider when making its decisions on whether or not to rezone highly productive land. There are also similar restrictions in relation to the subdivision of highly productive land and zoning highly productive land for rural lifestyle purposes. Territorial authorities are required to avoid ‘inappropriate use or development of highly productive land that is not land based primary production.’

On a practical level

It will be interesting to see the practical effect of the NPS-HPL around the country. Many of our urban areas are built on highly productive land, for obvious historical reasons. Those areas that spring to mind are the productive vegetable growing areas of Pukekohe and the Horowhenua, and the apple and wine growing regions of Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough and Nelson. Some urban areas in this country have little room for expansion other than on highly productive land.

The rural community will welcome the NPS-NPL but it will present difficulties for town planners to figure out how to deal with the much-publicised need for further housing. Allowing higher destiny development in district plans may be one solution to these problems.