The Otago Regional Council this year boosted its pest management budget to $3.3million and among the work the council says it will do with the money in the next financial year are more than 250 property inspections to make sure landowners are controlling rabbits on their properties.
The council passed its biosecurity operational plan for pest management after the money was secured in this year’s long-term plan last week.
It contains a raft of expanded and new work the council will do to manage pests in Otago in the coming financial year.
Responsibility for most of the pest control work in Otago lies with landowners and occupiers.
In her report to the council, biosecurity and rural liaison manager Andrea Howard said among the new work there would be an expanded wallaby detection programme.
Priority would be given to some ecosystems and there
would be greater focus on getting information out to the public.
There would be increased property inspections for compliance with feral rabbit rules on both private land and land owned by territorial authorities and Crown entities.
The council has already increased rabbit inspections beyond its own targets.
In last year’s operational pest plan the council’s target was 130 inspections, but by the time a March report was presented to councillors 180 had already been completed .
At the time, East Ida Valley (84.6%), Cardrona (85.7%), Ettrick and Moa Flat (89.6%) and the Lindis (100%) all had high compliance rates. But overall, just 57% of inspected properties were compliant.
A large percentage of noncompliant properties were in the Waihola, Taieri and the Otago Peninsula areas, the report said.
Non-compliant properties were issued with a notice requiring the owner to undertake measures to ensure feral rabbit densities were at or below the required level.
At the time, council staff noted more inspections were required in North Otago, Wanaka and Queenstown.
The council’s new operational plan says more than 60% of the 250-plus properties it aims to inspect in the coming year will be in rabbit-prone areas.
The council also aimed to eradicate Bennett’s wallabies, contain and reduce the spread of wilding conifers, and keep lagarosiphon out of new areas while trying to control or reduce it in a site-specific work programme.
The council’s regional pest management plan identifies 30 plants and 11 animals as pests.
