The sh*t hit the ...

There were fractious moments in the council debating chamber yesterday, some dodging and weaving, head-in-the-sanding and even and the excuse of 'God dunnit!' used in the argument about muck in our creeks and streams. Maurice Rodway fired up the farmers with his slideshow of images that showed soil and animal manure washing off paddocks and into the creeks, muddying and polluting them when they should have remained clean. The councillors-who-farm said, pshaw! You can't stop God's good rain, but Maurice and his band of merry men challenged the apparent inevitability of the despoliation from paddock run-off and said measures need to be taken and it was up to the council to lead the way. Nichol Horrel, who farms at Tuatapere, said' whaddaya gonna do, put God in the dock for the part She plays?' - or words to that effect (see the Southland Times article below) and Grant Hubber, a farmer also, felt it was 'just not do-able' to try to contain all of a farms soil and sh*t, and that the rain should shoulder the blame, not the farmer. The discussion rolled on, like a knob of sheep dung rolling down a slope and into a creek. In the end, it was decided that more of this rough talk needed to be done at a later date, once those most affected by the problem (all of us!) had cooled down. Great fun. Here's the article by Kimberley Crayton-Brown.

"An Environment Southland councillor yesterday argued that its own winter grazing rules were not enough to prevent contamination of freshwater in the region.
Cr Maurice Rodway, in a presentation to the committee meeting yesterday, suggested a new rule be introduced that would prohibit stormwater running into any river or modified water course if it contained certain levels of sediment, faecal coliforms or dissolved reactive phosphorus.
His suggestion divided councillors, with some saying runoff would be impossible to stop as some contamination was caused by heavy rainfall.
Environmental management committee chairman Nicol Horrell said significant rainfall events were an act of God.
"... are you going to prosecute God?"
Cr Robert Guyton replied he was concerned that councillors might be laying the blame at God's feet.
The rainfall was not an issue, and while it was part of the problem it was the council's job to ensure the effects do not result in the kind of things that Cr Rodway showed in his slideshow.
"Saying it is impossible is a very poor attitude to take, and I don't think it's impossible at all, that's our job," Cr Guyton said.
Cr Ross Cockburn said the council needed to get consistency across the whole province for the 3m fencing rule for stock near waterways. "... once we get consistency in place, I think we'll find an improvement."
Cr Rodway's presentation also showed examples of wintering on slopes and runoff around the region that involved dairy, sheep, cattle, deer and swale paddocks.
The presentation kicked off a wider debate among councillors who thought policing the issues was not possible, while others reacted strongly, saying it could be dealt with.
Cr Brian Mason thought councillors needed to discuss the suggested new rule further before any decision on possible prosecutions was made.
- The Southland Times"