Conservation Group Calls for Rollback of EW Pest Strategy

The Upper Coromandel Landcare Association (UCLA) today called upon the newly elected Environment Waikato Regional Council to immediately withdraw its controversial pest management strategy, in its entirety, as one of Council¹s first orders of business.

In place of the new plan, UCLA called for a five-year extension of EW¹s operational 2002-2007 pest policies, which the conservation group termed ³sensible, affordable and acceptable to the community².

According to UCLA, ³the projected quadrupling of EW pest control spending called for under the 2007-2012 strategy is completely irresponsible, particularly as Waikato ratepayers have suffered the nation¹s highest increases in rates demands over the last five years.²

³In addition to cost, the previous Council ignored the views of the wider community by extending to EW staff, in their sole discretion, the power to order destruction of recreational species such as pigs and deer virtually anywhere. These species, a traditional resource and part of our biodiversity heritage, have been kept in check for decades at no cost whatsoever to ratepayers², the group said.

UCLA noted that the recently adopted EW pest management strategy has already resulted in an Environment Court appeal, which will mean even more ratepayer dollars wasted on defending ³a bankrupt policy opposed by thousands of residents from Coromandel to Taupo².

³Previous Council put the budget and career special interests of EW staff ahead of the general public,² UCLA said. ³Fortunately, EW has the opportunity to address the problem right now by simply reverting to its workable 2002-2007 strategy.²

³In the future, EW can look at the strategies of Bay of Plenty or Tasman-Nelson regions as examples of pest plans which leave the management of recreational species to hunters and which keep pest spending to affordable levels.²

ENDS

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