Trespassers frustrate Middlemarch farmer
A MIDDLEMARCH farmer says he is sick of being left to clean up after people who use the Old Dunstan Road to trespass on his land.
Rocklands Station manager Mathew Middlemass said he was frustrated nothing was being done to stop people digging up his paddocks with 4WDs and motorcycles, or driving through his fences, which meant stock escaped.
Mr Middlemass said he had contacted both the Dunedin City Council and police but felt like he was not being listened to.
‘‘Say I drove my 4WD over a sportsground in town and made a mess there. I’m sure I’d be locked up straight away, so what’s the difference between here and there?’’
From next Tuesday, the road will be closed to all traffic between Sutton Stream (19km from State Highway 87) and the junction with PatearoaPaerau Rd, until September 30.
But the closure would not stop the damage, he said.
‘‘They keep coming and the road’s not closed all the way and they get up to where it is closed and they can’t go any further and then go offcourse and decide to make a mess on the station.
‘‘It’s just very, very frustrating.’’
Poachers also used the road and Mr Middlemass said on one occasion he caught a group on his property rustling cattle in the dark.
He wanted more monitoring of the road by police and wanted the council to extend the closure further along the road.
Before she retired last week, Senior Constable Helen FinchamPutter, of Middlemarch, said police were aware of the issues on the road but could only react when something was reported to them.
It was up to the council to manage the road, but its isolation made it difficult, she said.
Council transport delivery manager Josh von Pein said the issues highlighted by Mr Middlemass had been raised by the Strath Taieri Community Board, which has also asked the council to extend the closure closer to Middlemarch.
The council would consult the community about options for next winter and put up extra signs if needed, Mr von Pein said.
The closure of the road was timed to fit between the annual Brass Monkey rally in Oturehua and the start of the fishing season, so it was unlikely to start earlier in the year, he said.