Duntroon farmers Geoff and Jan Keeling managed to have two proposed changes to their land removed after successfully arguing against their validity, Geoff says.

“In our instance, we had two major overlays, one being the Outstanding Natural Feature, which was everything between the main road and the river . . . and our argument with that was that it's a longtime modified environment. It has been modified, rightly or wrongly, for probably the last 100 years.

“So, anything that is outstanding still, it's going to remain outstanding because it's obviously been preserved by someone, but anything that is gone, is long gone.”

In that stretch that they were talking about, especially the visible stretch from Duntroon to Kurow, the river is a sea of willows, he says.

“There's nothing outstanding about it. They can't see the river, per se . . . there was nothing site-specific about it - you don't mind if there is something special there - rather just a generic blanket.”

He says council staff would assure them they could “still do this and still do that”, but once there is an overlay on your property, rules can change, and it also has the potential to affect land value. As evidenced by a report obtained by local farmer Otto Dogterom.

“Just from a dairy farmer's perspective, we have audits by Fonterra, we have audits by our irrigation companies, which get reported back to ECAN, we have effluent consents, we have land-use rules.

“And then suddenly . . . there's an overlay at district council level . . . so it just adds another layer of bureaucracy and therefore to the cost.”

The second overlay they contested was a Site or Area of Significance to Maori (SASM).

The Keelings’s farm contains the Takiroa Rock art site, which is a reserve with public access, and is well looked after.

As well as the Maori rock art, the Keelings also have wetlands on their property across the road that are protected by a covenant and under going major restoration work.

“Again for us, they basically put a dot on the map and just threw a circle around it, and it included about 30 hectares of irrigated pasture, that had been an irrigated pasture for 50 years.

“From our point of view as farmers, we've got six kilometres of Alps to Ocean track going through our property. We've got the Takiroa Rock Art site and the restoration of the Takiroa wetland going on at one end, and we've got Duntroon community wetlands on the other end of our property.

“Us and a lot of other farmers are already doing a lot, and then you just sort of get slapped with this generic thing, with consultation but no real ability for adjustments to be made. . . . and you're almost being painted as the bad guy that wants to go and ruin things.

“If there's stuff that's special now, you would argue that it's going to remain special or remain protected. Because if it's still there now, you know, everyone's awareness, farmers' awareness is a lot better than what it was 30, 40, 50 years ago.

“And so, we all recognise that you've got to protect these things. Don't treat us as the enemy.”

Through help from Sven Thelning and the Waitaki Property Guardians, the Keelings have had their SASM reduced back to the area that was already protected, and the ONF has been removed from theirs and a number of farms on the south bank of the Waitaki River.

Geoff has been reluctant to speak out, because they did have their point of view listened to, and plans changed accordingly.

“But then when you think about it, we shouldn't have had to have them changed, logic should have prevailed.

“Council or their planners or whoever was doing these great big generic overlays should have been more pro-active and more specific to start with.

“We wouldn't have minded if someone had come to us at the start with the SASM and gone, ‘do you mind if we put this in?’ And we probably would have gone, ‘well yeah, no . . . that's why this restoration is happening’, and it would have saved a lot of pushing and sort of, I suppose, to-ing and fro-ing.”

Geoff wants to acknowledge the work Sven especially, and the group of people who were the forerunner before the Waitaki Property Guardians was officially formed have done for them and other farmers.

“We've benefited as individuals, but it's been through the collective group . . . and we are just lucky that our sites and our farm, I guess, has got stuff happening and underway.

Find more about the Proposed District Plan and how it could affect you - Waitaki property owners: urgent call to action as deadline looms.