Environment Canterbury has a number of applications by 3 companies currently being notified relating to the management of dairy effluent on proposed dairy farms which propose to house dairy cows indoors for most of the year.

These farms are located between Lake Ohau and west of Omarama, Waitaki District.

These applications focus on the potential environmental impact of the storing and disposing of this effluent, which will be collected from the indoor sheds. You can read the full outline of each application online:

Upper Waitaki - Williamson Holdings Ltd - Supplementary submissions - application for effluent disposal (pdf 3 MB)

 Upper Waitaki - Five Rivers Ltd - Supplementary submissions - application for effluent disposal (pdf 1 MB)

Upper Waitaki - Southdown Holdings Ltd - Supplementary submissions - application for effluent disposal (pdf 2 MB)

The 3 companies making these applications are Five Rivers Limited, Southdown Holdings Limited and Williamson Holdings Limited. 

The deadline for submissions for the first 2 applicants was 5 pm, Friday, December 18 2009. Williamson Holdings had to be renotified, hence its submissions were open until 5 pm, January 15 2010.

• Williamson Holdings Limited - submissions closed 
• Five Rivers Limited - submissions closed
• Southdown Holdings Limited - submissions closed

Please note that the Ministry of Agriculture is the primary agency with responsibility for animal welfare issues. We suggest that if you have specific concerns about animal welfare, you should contact the Ministry of Agriculture.

Further information is also available on the Biosecurity New Zealand website: 

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/regs/animal-welfare
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/animal-welfare/codes/dairy-cattle/index.htm#4