Chance to have say on tougher regional pest rules

NEGLIGENT landowners who fail to control the spread of noxious pests will be put on notice under a new set of rules.

The Otago Regional Council is calling for submissions on its proposed regional pest management plan as its current plan expires next year.

Included in the plan are ‘‘good neighbour rules’’ requiring rural land users, including local and central government, to control certain pest plants, such as broom, gorse and animal pests such as rabbits from spreading to neighbouring properties.

Those who failed to adequately control the spread of pests could be prosecuted under the Biosecurity Act.

Also included in the plan are 38 plant and animal species which needed to be proactively managed by land users, often in collaboration with the council.

New pests on the list include feral cats, goats, deer and pigs as well as hedgehogs, possums, ferrets, weasels, stoats and rats.

As well new additions to the animal pest list, the council wants to add the Chilean flame creeper, banana passionfruit, moth plant, wild Russell lupins and 11 species of wilding conifers to the plant pest list.

Five pest management programmes have been developed which will deal with pests by exclusion, containment, eradication, sustained control and siteled programmes.

Bennett’s wallaby, rooks and spiny broom are the only pests targeted for eradication.

Cr Andrew Noone said the new plan was a significant regulatory and enforcement stepup from the previous plan but it was also about the council supporting landowners and other groups.

A good example of what the plan also focused on was the possumeradication programme on the Otago Peninsula which was a joint effort between landowners and other communityled groups, Cr Noone said.

The plan included a doubling of the council’s pest management cost from about $900,000 to $1.8 million, he said.

A draft biosecurity strategy has also been developed alongside the management plan.

Council environmental monitoring and operations director Scott MacLean said the strategy outlined ways to proactively manage biosecur ity issues before they escalated.

Public submissions on the plan and feedback on biosecurity strategy close on December 14.

Submissions can be made online or at the council’s Alexandra, Dunedin and Queenstown offices or public libraries throughout Otago.