Objectors refuse to pay pest rate

Whangarei Heads residents Richard and Bernadette Schofield are among those saying their area should not be "picked on" when it comes to a targeted pest control rate. Photo / John Stone

The Government's decision to allocate $80,000 to pest control efforts at Whangarei Heads has hardened the resolve of residents objecting to a Northland Regional Council $50 levy reaping $103,000 for the same purpose.

Heads resident and lawyer Tony Mercer said the $50 targeted rate introduced this year was arbitrary and did not comply with the Biosecurity Act - the legislation which governed the setting of rates related to pest management.

The 2060 rateable units at Whangarei Heads will pay to support community groups setting traps on private and ratepayer land.

Meanwhile, the Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum has been granted $80,000 under the Government's Community Conservation Partnerships Fund for similar pest control.

Mr Mercer said that although he had paid his rate he agreed with several neighbours who had refused to do so based on the fact that kiwi conservation was a national issue and should not be paid for by a small group of citizens.

The Biosecurity Act stated that people asked to pay a targeted rate must reap particular "direct or indirect" benefit from the project. The regional council's pest management strategy also said that it was the beneficiaries of a pest plan, or anyone who exacerbates a pest problem, who should be required to pay for it.

"This is a national icon, it's not only whole area but the whole country that has an interest," Mr Mercer said.

Fellow Heads resident Richard Schofield has paid his rates bill minus the $50 levy and said he knew of a substantial number who had not paid. "[Council] are stonewalling the fact that they've got it wrong. I'm a bit confused as to why they've picked on this area."

The Whangarei District Council, which collects rates on behalf of the regional council, said it had received only two complaints.

NRC coastal central ward councillor Paul Dimery said support for the rate was overwhelming. "We put it in our long-term plan and we asked the ratepayers whether they wanted it or not. The overwhelming feedback was that it's an absolute essential," Mr Dimery said.

NRC biosecurity manager Don McKenzie said pest control funding from central Government was generally spent on Department of Conservation Land, which was part of the justification behind the rate. Community pest control had previously been funded by general rates.

The Government had also said $11.2 million would be spent on kiwi conservation over the next four years. NRC had not applied for this money. "That money is really for areas where kiwi are in decline. Again, it's destined for Crown land. That fund is not something that this community could use as an alternative to the targeted rates."