Livestock should be behind secure fencing

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

In just the last week I have had two reported instances of livestock being on the state highway and being hit by a local resident in their vehicle. This is just so dangerous.

Not only is it the inconvenience and cost of having one’s car damaged and off the road for repairs, it is also the potential for serious injury and even death to the people travelling in the vehicle.

Pastoral farmers all should know — and most do — that they are responsible for keeping their livestock off the road and restrained behind adequate fencing.

In a court of law, the owner of the stock is liable for the cost of any damage or worse if there is a loss of life.

Come on stock owners alongside SH35 and alongside streams. We all have to manage our fences and our flood gates, and there has not been any great amount of rain to flush out the flood gates. We all need to take responsibility to keep our stock in paddocks where they belong and off the highway.

We have a wonderful ratepayer in Tokomaru Bay who travels to work on the Coast and sends messages to Whaka Kotahi/NZTA — and sends me an email in the mornings — when he sees stock on the road.

In the last week’s incidents my colleague on council, councillor Bill Burdett, reported that one driver hit black cows on the road near Three Bridges and in the second incident another hit a Hereford cattle beast on the road near Tikitiki.

It is the responsibility of all of us to see that animals are not roaming free on the highway. Coast farmers, let’s see that we repair fences and flood gates where there is the potential for animals to break out, before the unforgiveable happens and someone is seriously hurt or worse.