Hawke's Bay Regional Council turns attention to river berms

Household rubbish dumping such as this lot at Brookfields Bridge over the Tutatekuri River is one activity the council wants to crack down on to protect river berms. Photo / File

Employing a ranger to patrol river berm areas under the jurisdiction of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council is being proposed in an effort to address growing public dissatisfaction with how these areas are being managed.

The council's environment and services committee will today consider recommending to the full council that funding be made available to employ a full-time ranger, one of a raft of options being investigated to help manage anything from stock entering waterways to vehicles eroding river banks and littering.

In December 2016, council staff were asked to prepare a review of the public use of rivers on council-owned land, which has now been completed and encompasses the major rivers crossing the Heretaunga Plains - the Tutaekuri, Ngaruroro and lower Tukituki.

It found there were recurring issues with public use, which if managed properly could be resolved.

These included vehicles accessing the river berms, causing stop-bank damage as well as increasing the likelihood of littering and rubbish dumping, the creation of fire pits and risks to the safety of other users.

Littering and rubbish dumping was an ongoing and significant issue, the review found, particularly in areas that had little surveillance and a low level of general maintenance.

Garbage dumped ranged from fast-food wrappers to alcohol cans and bottles, household refuse and furniture, and commercial rubbish.

Undesirable behaviour was also a regular occurrence, including vandalism and alcohol consumption that was upsetting for neighbouring residents.

The state of the signage around the region's rivers was also identified as problematic with damaged or missing signs, too many signs, incorrect signs and a lack of consistent branding.

While berm grazing helped maintain grass so it wasn't a fire risk, grazing in areas near water was becoming increasingly unacceptable to the public, the review found.

"There are known issues with cattle effluent in waterways (even if they are not in the actual water) ... in addition members of the public have communicated concerns about cattle faeces on the HB Trails."

Another challenge for the council was managing the conflicting requirements of different users of the berms - from dog walkers to four-wheel-drivers to horse riders.

As a result of the review, nine areas for investigation in the short term were highlighted, including looking at how cattle grazing could be monitored better or eliminated and replaced with cut-and-carry crops such as lucerne.

Reducing vehicle access areas, replacing locks to public access areas, introducing CCTV cameras, reviewing signage and introducing patrol staff were other suggestions.

To test these suggestions an area of the Ngaruroro River had been set aside for a pilot study to consider how any solutions could be implemented and the potential costs, particularly around alternatives to cattle grazing.

In terms of employing full-time patrol staff, the report to today's meeting said $120,000 would need to be set aside through the 2019/2020 Annual Plan or the 2021/2031 Long Term Plan to fund this position.

Committee members will today consider whether to recommend this provision be made, and have been asked to agree that cattle grazing of the berms should be allowed to continue to manage vegetation growth until viable and affordable alternatives are confirmed.

In the meantime, all precautions are to be taken to prevent grazing cattle entering waterways.