Landowners 'need to have a say' over possum control

Six hundred North Wairarapa and Otaki landowners need to voice their opinion on the future of possum control in their area, says Wairarapa Hill Country Advisory Committee chairman Peter Gawith.
The 80,000ha area has had regular possum control work for many years, funded under the Animal Health Board's National Pest Management Strategy, to control bovine tuberculosis, Mr Gawith said.
The northern Wairarapa area has been clear of bovine TB for five years and the AHB is stopping possum control in mid-2009, he said.
The Otaki area and parts of northern Wairarapa are scheduled to have possum control stopped in mid-2011, Mr Gawith said, and the AHB will be reallocating the money to other parts of the country where bovine TB is still prevalent.
"Possum control for bovine TB is stopping in a significant part in the north of the region," he said.
"This work has brought very real gains to farmers and the area as a whole.
"It's in the interest of landowners in the area, and further down the catchments, that these gains are maintained."
Greater Wellington, in a mailout to 600 landowners in the affected areas, has floated three options on possum and predator control in the future.
"I encourage all landowners to choose the option they prefer and send it back to Greater Wellington," he said.
"We don't want to go back to the bad old days when bovine TB, spread mainly by possums, was rife, particularly in Wairarapa.
"Fifteen years ago 330 herds were infected. Many farmers were tied down with regular and expensive regimes of herd testing and were heavily restricted in moving stock around the region or further a field.
"These days (as at June this year) less than 10 herds are infected across the Wellington region, but the benefits of possum control are far wider than controlling bovine TB," Mr Gawith said.
"Possums can also spread water-borne diseases such as cryptosporidium, leptospirosis and giardia.
"They can speed soil erosion by damaging soil conservation plantings or native bush in hill country.
"Possums graze pasture, can make a mess of fodder crops and also eat eggs and chicks of our native birds. The fewer possums there are, the less these problems affect us.
"The Wairarapa Hill Country Advisory Committee strongly encourages all affected landowners to let Greater Wellington know what they want for possum and predator control in the future."
The committee provides advice to Greater Wellington Regional Council, Mr Gawith said.
Six hill country representatives are on the committee including Mr Gawith, Jenny Boyne, Jamie Falloon, Andrew Pottinger, Michael Blundell and Emily Crofoot. Masterton district councillor David Holmes and Greater Wellington's Wairarapa councillor Ian Buchanan are also on the committee.
Some feral animals are capable of carrying and spreading bovine TB to uninfected cattle and deer herds and although carriers are predominantly possums and ferrets, feral deer and feral pigs are also known to carry bovine TB.
Submissions on the future programme are due on Monday, and submitters may either send back the form or reply to maintainthegains@gw.govt.nz.
n For more information please contact Peter Gawith 372-7743 or Greater Wellington manager biosecurity Wayne O'Donnell 370-5618.