Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Regional Council call for protection of region's stopbanks

Bay of Plenty Times
17 Jun, 2020 08:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Over-grazing on stopbanks and berms can lead to pugging and potential weakening of the flood defence structure. Photo / Supplied

Over-grazing on stopbanks and berms can lead to pugging and potential weakening of the flood defence structure. Photo / Supplied

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is calling for landowners to protect the region's stopbanks from stock as the change of season comes in.

Rivers and drainage asset manager Kirsty Brown said most farmers and lifestyle block owners knew the rules but the importance of maintaining the region's flood defences could not be underestimated.

"Council manages and maintains almost 352km of stopbanks across the region to protect people, property and livelihoods.

"During winter, it is common sense to keep stock off the stopbanks as much as possible to prevent pugging and damage. Churned up ground is not just a surface problem, it can cause much greater issues."

She said good grass cover helped to "knit together" the soil, so anything that weakened that structure could lead to stopbank failure.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Pigs and horses scraping and tearing up the grass cover can also be a potential problem and bulls are never permitted on stopbanks because their weight and behaviour can very quickly cause significant damage."

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council Flood Protection and Drainage Bylaw applied to drains, pumping stations, defences against water, river edge protection works and floodways managed by Council.

Under the bylaw it was an offense to damage stopbanks, and landowners can be held liable for any damage.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rivers and drainage teams monitor the condition of stopbanks but any breaches could be reported to the council's pollution hotline.

Discover more

New Zealand

'I can't forgive him': How a road-rage clash ended tragically

16 Jun 05:00 PM
Kahu

Proposed jet fuel tank farm the 'last straw'

19 Jun 07:00 PM

Zoe Hunter: Always be kind to your elders

17 Jun 12:00 AM

New initiative brings better health outcomes for Bay patients

16 Jun 04:09 AM
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Desserts for the deserving: Teen baker with a 'passion for helping'

14 Sep 12:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Four injured in early morning crash

13 Sep 07:48 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'I didn’t see any way out': Survivor calls for law targeting coercive control abuse

13 Sep 06:00 PM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Desserts for the deserving: Teen baker with a 'passion for helping'
Bay of Plenty Times

Desserts for the deserving: Teen baker with a 'passion for helping'

Hannah Richards spends three hours every Saturday baking cakes and crumbles for charity.

14 Sep 12:00 AM
Four injured in early morning crash
Bay of Plenty Times

Four injured in early morning crash

13 Sep 07:48 PM
'I didn’t see any way out': Survivor calls for law targeting coercive control abuse
Bay of Plenty Times

'I didn’t see any way out': Survivor calls for law targeting coercive control abuse

13 Sep 06:00 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP