Volume One 14. Use of the Rural Environment (h) avoiding subdivision below eight hectares to help retain primary production options and a sense of openness within the Omaka Valley Area. Having identified the characteristics of the Omaka Valley Area in Policy 14.4.12, this policy sets out the ways in which the particular amenity and rural character values can be maintained and enhanced. An enabling approach to primary production activities consistent with the wider Rural Environment Zone is generally provided for, as the Council does not wish to unnecessarily constrain the type of activity occurring. One exception to this is the resource consent requirement for commercial forestry to assess the impacts on areas with high amenity value within the Omaka Valley Area. (There is also a resource consent requirement for dairy farming but this requirement occurs throughout the Rural Environment Zone and is not specific to the Omaka Valley Area.) A lower threshold for subdivision within the Omaka Valley Area is provided for when compared with the subdivision provisions for the wider Rural Environment Zone. An eight hectare threshold has been applied to the Omaka Valley Area. This threshold reflects a desire to ensure that the potential for land fragmentation was avoided, especially from non-productive uses. The potential for land fragmentation also exists where rural living is proposed, with land lost to dwellings, accessory buildings, access ways, disposal fields for wastewater, etc. Rural character could begin to fray if residential lots are created sporadically within the Omaka Valley Area and the policy seeks to avoid this occurring. Therefore a minimum allotment size of eight hectares is provided for to help retain primary production options and to maintain rural character. Maintaining a low volume traffic environment to maintain the peaceful and quiet environment of the Omaka Valley Area is challenging, as the predominant land use is viticulture, which for a period each vintage attracts a considerable number of truck movements. There are no through roads within the valley, but this in itself presents a challenge when considering land use activities at the head of the valley. The policy recognises that in general the Omaka Valley enjoys low traffic flows and that this is to be maintained. In terms of 14.4.13(f), it is important to enable activities that do not rely on the primary productive potential of the rural resource but are appropriate in rural environments. However, it is considered that any other activities not covered by the policies referred to in (f) should be avoided in the Omaka Valley Area. Such activities, which can include rural living, commercial or industrial activities, have an option of locating within the urban centres of Renwick and Blenheim, both of which are relatively close. Some limited provision has been made for rural living on larger lots on the periphery of Blenheim (Urban Residential 3 Zone). Commercial and industrial activities are more appropriately located in the relevant urban zones within which these activities are not related to primary production activities. Wairau Plain [D] Policy 14.4.14 – The Wairau Plain is characterised by the following: (a) a highly productive land resource and the most intensively developed and farmed rural area in Marlborough; (b) an extensive area of flat land available for primary production; (c) an extensive floodplain and drainage network; (d) the large, braided Wairau River and its tributaries, floodplain terraces, associated backswamp wetlands, streams, coastal swamp deposits and minor inland sand dunes; (e) ground-fed springs in the lower plain; (f) viticulture as a dominant land use; 14 – 13