From left, Environment Te Puke chairman Grant Dally, Te Puke Menz Shed president John Judson, Menz Shed founder Joan Dugmore and Environment Te Puke treasurer Kylie Woodham.
The predator-free movement has come to the Bay of Plenty, and Te Puke has joined the party.
Late last year Predator-Free Wellington founder Kelvin Hastie gave a presentation in Tauranga to a small but motivated group of people. Some of them had been working on their own projects around the
district for many years, such as Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust, Pest-Free Omokoroa and other bush-based projects in the Kaimai Range.
There are now 22 suburbs affiliated to Predator-Free Wellington and the movement is growing in the Western Bay, with a care group in Te Puke joining others that have also been set up around Mauao and in Matua and Merivale. The groups have the support of Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty District councils.
Voluntary community group Environment Te Puke, under new chairman Grant Dally, had decided to progress Predator-Free Te Puke in July 2017.
"After hearing how well Wellington's plan worked, we realised we had to adopt their methods and take advantage of their online tools to record rat catches, visualise progress and know that we were using a proven system that got results," says Grant.
The plan relies on one in five households having rat traps and coming on board with the project.
