November 26, 2025
A resource consent bill that could hit $300,000 has pushed an Ashburton Lakes farming family to breaking point. Castle Ridge Station farmers Kerry and Paul Harmer say four years of uncertainty, spiralling consultant costs and a public notification process has taken a brutal toll on their family farm.
“The consenting process is broken and we’re the classic example,” Kerry Harmer said. Fellow Ashburton farmer David Clark knows how she feels, having gone public with his consent process frustration and over what he calls “outrageous costs”.
He’s urged the Government to step in, even calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to back his promise to support farmers facing the same regulatory blowtorch. The Harmers’ consent application to continue farming at an existing level has been bogged down in more than four years of uncertainty, stress, and spiralling cost.
“We’ve been closely involved in a multi-agency working group since 2019, and it’s been chugging along nicely as a collaborative, holistic project, making good gains,” Harmer said. “Our own catchment group gained funding from MPI, and we’ve been identifying gaps in the science, like groundwater information, and we’re gathering data to determine what impact farming may be having.
“Then Environment Canterbury’s consenting process comes ploughing in, overriding everything and eroding trust.” Despite all affected parties already working together in the catchment group, ECan chose to publicly notify the application, triggering a public hearing, opening the door to submissions from anyone, and adding major cost.
“Limiting notification to affected parties would have covered all bases and cost less money. “Now we need to get more expert evidence, costing tens of thousands of dollars, when all of that money could have been spent on real environmental action on the ground,” Harmer said.
Castle Ridge Station sits between Māori Lakes and Lake Emily. The family has farmed it since 1992, running merino sheep, Angus cattle and a small number of red deer. Kerry is the Federated Farmers’ Mid Canterbury high-country chairperson and said they accept the fact it’s zoned as sensitive lakes in the regional plan, and subject to restrictions.
“We’ve been proactive for years carrying out riparian fencing and planting, and fencing off waterways, as well as altering winter feed areas and systems, and other mitigation measures. “Yet the regulatory system ignores that goodwill. It’s a rigid ‘this is the process, we can’t deviate from it’ attitude.”
Castle Ridge gained non-notified consent to farm in 2016, with conditions they have fully met.
They’ve had a Farm Environment Plan for a decade and earned two A-grade audits. They lodged their new consent application six months before expiry in 2021 but ECan held it for nearly four years during an Overseer review and other internal processes. Then a desktop report suggested Ashburton Lakes water quality was declining. “Suddenly ECan cracked down and the process became difficult, and every step has brought new surprises,” she said.
“You hire consultants to help do the work to get your application in. Then ECan wants more information, some of it with ridiculously short timeframes or at very busy times on the farming calendar.”
The family now faces an estimated $90,000 bill for expert water quality and ecology evidence, work well outside the scope of most farming operations. “Getting a consent to farm has become this massive beast, a nightmare.” Harmer said they are not seeking to intensify, irrigate or change land use, and see little environmental gain from the maze they are trapped in.
“In fact, our stock numbers have dropped, and we’ve already made massive changes to reduce our impact.” She said the process has caused “an awful lot of worry with tears shed”, and with no guarantee of long-term consent at the end. “Our son is also on the farm now, but what’s his future going to look like going forward?
“Will we be allowed to grow winter feed? We can’t run the livestock in winter here if we can’t.” Harmer is among those who have signed a Federated Farmers petition calling on the Government to step in and roll over consents until the RMA overhaul is complete.
“It’s about common sense. Why are we wasting ratepayers’ and food producers’ money and effort on consent processes based on planning rules that are about to be significantly altered and streamlined?” The family wants healthy lakes, healthy streams and a minimal environmental footprint.
“But we can’t do that if we’re broke, and at the moment this crazy system is taking money away from us being able to do that.
A resource consent bill that could hit $300,000 has pushed an Ashburton Lakes farming family to breaking point. Castle Ridge Station farmers Kerry and Paul Harmer say four years of uncertainty, spiralling consultant costs and a public notification process has taken a brutal toll on their family farm.
“The consenting process is broken and we’re the classic example,” Kerry Harmer said. Fellow Ashburton farmer David Clark knows how she feels, having gone public with his consent process frustration and over what he calls “outrageous costs”.
He’s urged the Government to step in, even calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to back his promise to support farmers facing the same regulatory blowtorch. The Harmers’ consent application to continue farming at an existing level has been bogged down in more than four years of uncertainty, stress, and spiralling cost.
“We’ve been closely involved in a multi-agency working group since 2019, and it’s been chugging along nicely as a collaborative, holistic project, making good gains,” Harmer said. “Our own catchment group gained funding from MPI, and we’ve been identifying gaps in the science, like groundwater information, and we’re gathering data to determine what impact farming may be having.
“Then Environment Canterbury’s consenting process comes ploughing in, overriding everything and eroding trust.” Despite all affected parties already working together in the catchment group, ECan chose to publicly notify the application, triggering a public hearing, opening the door to submissions from anyone, and adding major cost.
“Limiting notification to affected parties would have covered all bases and cost less money. “Now we need to get more expert evidence, costing tens of thousands of dollars, when all of that money could have been spent on real environmental action on the ground,” Harmer said.
Castle Ridge Station sits between Māori Lakes and Lake Emily. The family has farmed it since 1992, running merino sheep, Angus cattle and a small number of red deer. Kerry is the Federated Farmers’ Mid Canterbury high-country chairperson and said they accept the fact it’s zoned as sensitive lakes in the regional plan, and subject to restrictions.
“We’ve been proactive for years carrying out riparian fencing and planting, and fencing off waterways, as well as altering winter feed areas and systems, and other mitigation measures. “Yet the regulatory system ignores that goodwill. It’s a rigid ‘this is the process, we can’t deviate from it’ attitude.”
Castle Ridge gained non-notified consent to farm in 2016, with conditions they have fully met.
They’ve had a Farm Environment Plan for a decade and earned two A-grade audits. They lodged their new consent application six months before expiry in 2021 but ECan held it for nearly four years during an Overseer review and other internal processes. Then a desktop report suggested Ashburton Lakes water quality was declining. “Suddenly ECan cracked down and the process became difficult, and every step has brought new surprises,” she said.
“You hire consultants to help do the work to get your application in. Then ECan wants more information, some of it with ridiculously short timeframes or at very busy times on the farming calendar.”
The family now faces an estimated $90,000 bill for expert water quality and ecology evidence, work well outside the scope of most farming operations. “Getting a consent to farm has become this massive beast, a nightmare.” Harmer said they are not seeking to intensify, irrigate or change land use, and see little environmental gain from the maze they are trapped in.
“In fact, our stock numbers have dropped, and we’ve already made massive changes to reduce our impact.” She said the process has caused “an awful lot of worry with tears shed”, and with no guarantee of long-term consent at the end. “Our son is also on the farm now, but what’s his future going to look like going forward?
“Will we be allowed to grow winter feed? We can’t run the livestock in winter here if we can’t.” Harmer is among those who have signed a Federated Farmers petition calling on the Government to step in and roll over consents until the RMA overhaul is complete.
“It’s about common sense. Why are we wasting ratepayers’ and food producers’ money and effort on consent processes based on planning rules that are about to be significantly altered and streamlined?” The family wants healthy lakes, healthy streams and a minimal environmental footprint.
“But we can’t do that if we’re broke, and at the moment this crazy system is taking money away from us being able to do that.
