Council defends dairy link | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

A claim that Horizons Regional Council is overly friendly with dairy farming is unwarranted, chairman Bruce Gordon says.

Three of its councillors are owners of dairy farms, and at least two others are sheep and beef farmers. Now its holding company is thinking of investing in a dairy farm - the Westoe property between Bulls and Marton.

Green Party leader Russel Norman has said the council would lose credibility as a protector of the environment if it invested in dairying. He saw owning a dairy farm as a basic conflict of interest.

"I'm really struggling with that concept from the Green Party," Mr Gordon said.

Any investment in dairying would only be done through the council's Manawatu-Wanganui Holding Company. It was at arm's length from the council, he said. The dairy farm would be expected to comply with the council's rules.

"If Horizons can't be compliant with its own dairy farm that means we've got our rules wrong."

Most dairy farmers he had spoken to were rapt because the farm would give the council the ability to test its own rules.

Dairy farmers hated the "dirty dairying" label, Mr Gordon said, and had actually led the way toward environmental sustainability. "They have had to move quickly with changing standards, and it's to their credit the way they have responded."

In 2004 most dairy farms discharged stock effluent to water. Now they all discharged to land and had on-farm effluent storage - a huge investment for them.

"We have got a very, very active group of dairy farmers that are trying very hard to comply."

The regional council's holding company went looking for a new investment after it received just over $9million from selling its shares in Ports of Napier.

Its four directors were asked to look for investments that would give returns higher than a bank and have capital growth.

Centreport in Wellington met those criteria, but there were no shares for sale. Dairy farms also met those criteria, and were predicted to continue doing so.

The river flats at Westoe, if irrigated, would be ideal for dairying and the council shared a goal of former owner Jim Howard for agricultural training there.

"We're very keen on the teaching side of things," Mr Gordon said.

Trainees would learn to trap possums and stoats and conserve biodiversity, and the property could also be used as a plant nursery. Its purchase was still very much under negotiation.