The proposed replacement of the Resource Management Act (RMA) is up for discussion at the Alexandra Community Centre this week.

Federated Farmers has partnered with the Taxpayers Union for a nine-stop rural roadshow opposing the government’s proposed replacement of the Resource Management Act.

Federated Farmers RMA reform spokesperson Mark Hooper said the reform of the RMA needs to be done right to address the issues of cost and complexity that farmers face “every time they want to do something productive with their land”.

"The current legislation just ties farmers up in red tape, slows us down, and heaps on unnecessary costs - but the government’s proposed reforms will only make that worse. It’s an absolute nightmare for farmers.

"Federated Farmers strongly opposes the current reforms because they will shift land use planning away from democratically elected councils towards ‘regional planning committees’, which will be at arm’s length from their local community," Mark said.

"We also have real concerns that the reforms will introduce new, vague and undefined concepts that will create huge uncertainty for landowners and likely lead to time and money wasted with legal challenges through the courts."

Mark said the critical piece of legislation should not be rushed through before the election.

"Any farmer worth their salt would tell them that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. The current reforms are fatally flawed, and they need to go back to the drawing board.”

The roadshow will kick off in Ashburton on May 30 before continuing on to Alexandra, Gore, Invercargill, Masterton, Palmerston North, Whanganui, New Plymouth and Te Awamutu.

The Alexandra event starts at 6pm on Wednesday May 31.