Controlling the plague of feral deer on the West Coast is going to take a combined effort – and funding – from farmers, industry, and central government, the West Coast Regional Council has heard.
The council’s environmental management committee met in Greymouth on Thursday and discussed recent media coverage of the region’s deer problem, and what it would take for the council to tackle the pests.
Chief executive Darryl Lew said the council was about to embark on a full review of its pest management plan, which did not currently include pest animals.
“If we were to add animals in, where’s the funding coming from? Because you’ve got to magic it up from somewhere. So much of this is about primary production and what we need to do is reconnect with our primary sector, Federated Farmers, Westland Milk, and get another working group going here, as we work through this.”
A targeted rate might be part of the solution, Lew suggested.
Operational Solutions for Primary Industries (OSPRI) was funded by farmers and the government and was pulling back its pest control operations on the Coast, as bovine TB was brought under control, Lew noted.
“That does leave a gap and the prospect of the feral animals really exploding… so, there is a big conversation coming up.”
It was not just up to regional council staff to take the initiative, Lew said.
“Councillors are a conduit between this organisation and the communities and we are going to need [you] to have some involvement… we need your help.”
Councillor Allan Birchfield said he was opposed to the regional council taking on the deer problem.
“I don’t think it’s a role for the RC to be getting into animal control – 85% of the land area where these animals are coming from is DOC, government land, and it’s up to the Government to sort it out. This is not a burden we should be putting on the ratepayer – we need to stand well clear of this one,” Birchfield said.
Councillor Andy Campbell who farms in the Wanganui catchment, where deer numbers were building, said there would not be enough ratepayers on the West Coast to control the pests.
Lew said he agreed 100% with Birchfield.
“There’s got to be a massive conversation with the Government and the Department of Conservation… as there has been on both sides of the ranges around tahr which DOC let get away quite substantially…I agree that most of the ungulates are coming out of the Conservation estate onto farmland.”
Councilor Peter Ewen said the Department of Conservation had more or less flown the white flag over deer and admitted they were out of control.
“They haven’t got the financing so we want at the outset to have a real hard discussion with the Minister of Conservation. Something’s got to change and it’s up to the Government to come up with the money. Or we scrap DOC and come up with another Pest Destruction Board or something and the Government funds that. Because that’s how serious the problem is… and it will rapidly trend up.”
Campbell said there was no deer problem back in the 1970s and the days of the wild venison industry before the advent of 1080.
The Regional Council chair Colin Smith supported the suggestion of a discussion about the West Coast feral deer problem with central Government.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
