Jessica Maxwell: Only one council pulling weight

Jessica Maxwell.

Tainui Reserve is the potential jewel in the crown of reserves contained within the urban landscape of Havelock North. It is enjoyed all year round by hundreds of people including dog owners who relish the fact that their pets can exercise off-lead in a naturally unspoilt environment as well as by many who are keen walkers, runners and mountain bikers.

Having lived beside the reserve since 1987, I have a genuine interest in the environmental health and general well-being of its 16.4 hectares. The HBRC is to be congratulated for its efforts to control a destructive possum population as in recent years there is a noticeable increase in native birds and reptiles in the area.

However, the same cannot be said for Hastings District Council's management. The ecological health of the trees and plants and environment in the reserve has deteriorated markedly in the past five years due to Parks and Reserves' neglect.

After the illegal felling of 18 trees in 2014 by a local builder who was fined $15,000, council designated $8000 to remove the felled trees from the gully close to Hikanui Pa and $7000 for remediation and re-planting. Council's efforts to replant the gully wouldn't even score one out of ten. A few totara trees were planted (too close together) along with some Silver Dollars but then no follow-up care or maintenance was provided and the area is now so degraded and overgrown, it is simply an eyesore.

There is particular dismay over the rampant spread of noxious weeds throughout the reserve. Trees, native plants and shrubs are being strangled by invasive convolvulus and ivy while wandering jew is choking the gullies. In my usual frank style, I have told council's senior management, mayor and councillors that, in my view, this is because senior managers are tapping away on their keyboards in the council building instead of going into the reserves, identifying problems and dealing with them.

In the glossy Draft Reserves Management Plan for example, Page 28 explains council's policies on weed control but, as I pointed out, writing about eradicating weeds doesn't get rid of them. Staff on the ground with herbicide sprays at the appropriate time of the year does.

Another recent concern relates to the disposal of a number of large trees which either toppled over themselves or were felled for safety reasons after a prolonged rainstorm last September. These trees were cut into about 60 trunks and stacked ready for removal. Many were millable quality macrocarpa and pine and there was some gum. They had a value.

The Parks and Reserves' Manager told me via a councillor in November that they would be sold for $20,000 with the money going into a re-planting programme. That sounded good but the reality is that management ended up giving the trees away for free just before Christmas. To add insult to injury, ratepayers picked up an impressive tab for the three days it took council staff to clean up the mess and damage left by the contractors. I vented my spleen about that because I, and everyone else who knows about it, view the gifting of those trees as council staff taking the easy option. I believe if the trees had belonged to them, they would not have given them away free-gratis and they would also have insisted that the lucky recipient left the site in a tidy state. Someone will make a lot of money from that arrangement.

The Mangarau Stream which runs through the reserve is also in a shocking state of neglect. There is household detritus on the banks and a number of blockages restricting the flow. Although I reported this over three weeks ago nothing has been done yet.

It shouldn't take a concerned ratepayer to have to tell highly-paid senior managers that they need to undertake a long overdue blitz on noxious weeds in Tainui Reserve but I have done just that. I have formally requested that they get into gear and initiate an aggressive, planned spraying programme next month - autumn being the perfect time to start.

- Jessica Maxwell is an animal welfare advocate and chairman of WATCHDOG

- Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz.