Discretionary pastoral activity decision - Cultivate and crop existing pasture - A4963843

For this decision summary:

• LINZ received the application before 17 November 2022
• accordingly, the decision was made under the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 excluding the amendments taking effect on 17 November 2022.
   

Cultivate and crop existing pasture

10 years with maintenance rights.

For the part of the consent that was granted

The Commissioner of Crown Lands has determined that allowing the lessee to cultivate and crop areas to improve pasture species and subsequent stock management and performance, will make it easier to use the land concerned for farming purposes, and the conditions recommended will promote good management practice and mitigate effects on inherent values.

For the part of the consent that was declined

The Commissioner of Crown Lands has determined that these areas contain inherent values related to indigenous vegetation, habitat for flora and fauna, and landscape, that are desirable to protect and that would be adversely affected by granting consent to cultivate and crop.

Consent is granted in part for crop & cultivate subject to the following conditions:

1. Cultivation and cropping is not permitted within the areas shown outlined in yellow on the plans attached including within 5m of the wetland fences and connecting un-fenced wetland channel, shown outlined in yellow and labelled “Fenced wetlands”, on the plans attached. 
2. Cultivation is not permitted within 5m of the edge of the wetland vegetation of any other wetlands and Dinner Stream banks, within 20m of Awatere and Hodder Riverbanks, and within 3m of the banks of any other waterways. Generally, setbacks are to increase with adjacent slope and waterway width. 
3. Intensively grazed cattle are to be excluded from Dinner Stream, and from the Awatere River flat shown outlined in blue and labelled “Light flat” on the plans. 
4. Heli-cropping may be undertaken within the area shown outlined and cross-hatched in blue, and is to be timed carefully in terms of season and weather forecast to ensure appropriate growing conditions following seeding. 
5. Good management practices are to be undertaken to minimise the risk of soil erosion, including the use of minimum tillage and direct drilling techniques where possible, leaving soil bare for as short a period as practicable, and avoiding cultivation of dry soil. 
6. The areas may be cultivated for the purposes of growing feed or forage for livestock on the property. 
7. No area may be under the cultivation regime for more than two consecutive years at any one time before being established to permanent pasture or lucerne. During the cropping cycle raphanobrassica, rape, kale, turnips, ryecorn, greenfeed oats, brassicas and annual grasses may be sown. 
8. Permanent pasture may include ryegrass, cocksfoot, timothy, chicory, plantain, red/white/subterranean/arrowleaf/strawberry clovers, lucerne and pasture herbs.
9. The areas may be re-cultivated not more frequently than 10 year intervals. During such re-cultivations, the conditions of this consent and any other local and regional authority rules are to be adhered to. 
10. Adequate fertiliser is to be applied to maintain a healthy sward without soil depletion. Soil testing is to be undertaken to inform fertiliser requirements and to avoid over-application of nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen. Fertiliser application on the area shown outlined in blue and labelled “Light flat” is to be kept to a level that avoids nutrients leaching through the soil profile or being carried into Awatere River by overland flow. 
11. Only seed certified as being free of weed seeds and impurities is to be sown. 

Consent is declined for those areas outlined in yellow on the attached plans.

The Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 provides that permission to undertake the activity may still be needed under other enactments.