In the first case, a Rotorua dairy farm was fined $40,000 in the Hamilton District Court for four offences under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).

Fantastic Farms Limited was fined $10,000 on each of four charges relating to incidents where dairy effluent discharged onto land in circumstances where the effluent entered a watercourse, which formed part of the Waiteti Stream catchment at Rotorua.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chief Executive Bill Bayfield said the sentencing showed that the goalposts had moved in relation to new penalties for incidents after 1 October 2009. Since that date the fine levels have increased from a maximum of $200,000 for any party, to a new maximum of $300,000 for an individual or $600,000 for a company. This was the first of the Regional Council’s cases sentenced under the new penalty regime.

“The judge had acknowledged the insidious and cumulative nature of the discharges and it is for those reasons that we place so much emphasis on preventing pollution of this nature,” Mr Bayfield said. “While there had been no evidence of issues at the farm prior to 2009, from August to October 2009 the standard of care fell well below the expected level.”

Since the incidents, Fantastic Farms has spent $60,000 improving its effluent systems.

“The maximum penalties for these offences total $2.4million, so the judge’s starting point of $60,000 for the four offences was modest,” Mr Bayfield said.

Fantastic Farms Limited was given a one-third deduction for the guilty plea.

Mr Bayfield said a second sentencing was not subject to the new penalties as the incidents occurred before 1 October 2009.

Wildhaber Wench & Co and Lucas Wildhaber were fined $16,800, to be divided between the two defendants equally, for two charges of discharging dairy effluent onto land where it also entered the Waiteti Stream catchment, on 19 August 2009.

Mr Bayfield said both cases highlighted the need for farmers to manage their systems so they worked well at all times of the year, including during staff shortages, calving and in rain.

“We’ve created some great tools in conjunction with Federated Farmers, Fonterra and DairyNZ to help farmers to maintain compliance,” he said. “Fonterra and DairyNZ also have people on the ground to support farmers in improving their systems, which we encourage people to use.”

DairyNZ have recently sent out information to every dairy farm consent holder in the Bay of Plenty, which details some of the new tools and resources that are now available.