Privet an ongoing problem

City residents who complain to the Palmerston North City Council about privet trees in their neighbourhood are wasting their time. The body responsible for the control of pest plants locally is Horizons Regional Council, their powers being enshrined in the combined regional pest management plan and strategy 2015 – 2035. Citizens will also be wasting their time complaining to Horizons as privet has not been included on their pest plant list in this document. Due to privet’s adverse health and environmental impact, we have historically made submissions to this document in 2000, 2006 and lately, 2016. Two other submitters to the 2016 revision included the city council, that wanted privet included in the progressive containment list, and botanist Colin Ogle, who wanted tree privet added to the plant pest list. We have again wasted our time in this latest round of submissions. In a letter to submitters dated September 1, 2017 we were advised of Horizons councillors’ decisions on this plan and strategy. We quote; ‘‘Privet can pose a potential risk to human health in some circumstances. This issue presently falls outside the ambit of the plan and is the responsibility of the public health unit. The issue can be addressed without Horizons intervention’’. We suspect that this decision will be news to the public health units. Marilyn and Bruce Bulloch Palmerston North