Bay of Plenty Regional Council is encouraging farmers ready to move to the next stage of Plan Change 10 to register for a free resource consent.
The offer has been available to landowners of properties over 40ha in the Rotorua Catchment since July 1 and closes on September 30 which waives the fee of about $1000.
The recently adopted plan change to the Regional Water and Land Plan introduced rules aimed to reduce nitrogen loss on land that then enters the lake.
The rules have been developed with input from Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme partners (Rotorua Lakes Council and Te Arawa Lakes Trust), landowners, stakeholders, technical and science experts, and the community through feedback received at public meetings, hui, information sessions.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder said to date 32 landowners had registered for a free consent.
"A fair majority of the farmers in our catchment have been well aware of the rules for some time. Some of them were instrumental in the development phase and just want to get on with it. Our environment won't wait, so we want to help them do so."
Most farms over 40ha will need a resource consent. A requirement of the consent is to produce a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) outlining how they will meet their Nitrogen Discharge Allocation by 2032.
"We will pay for farmers to work with approved independent Land Use Advisors to develop an NMP. We're offering to help with the paper work required by the rules so they can get on with the real work, managing their farms."
To find out if the rules affect you, access the funding to develop an NMP and/or register for a free consent contact Regional Council's Advice and Support Service on (07) 921 3377.