On a sunny, windless West Auckland morning, the biggest round yet of the triple-aircraft attack against painted apple moth pest took off at first light yesterday. Herald reporters ANNE BESTON, KATHERINE HOBY and WAYNE THOMPSON spoke to people living in the now extended spray zone.
5.30am: Auckland Zoo staff turn up
for work hours earlier than usual, checking that orang-utans, chimps and lions are shut safely indoors.
5.45am: Christine Shepherd of Western Heights hears the Fokker Friendship passing over her home. "It woke up the neighbourhood."
7am: Mrs Shepherd experiences more spraying while at Parrs Park, Oratia. She is not concerned about exposure to the insecticide. "I've been sprayed three times in one day - the spray landed on my head and on my clothes - but it didn't affect me."
The spray came down in a fine mist but in sufficient quantity to be seen on the car windscreen.
Mrs Shepherd chairs the Waitakere Community Board and says the ministry improved public relations greatly by inviting residents to call an 0800 hotline to find out when and where spraying was to occur on any particular day.
7.45am: Over the zoo the light plane finishes its job and moves further west towards Avondale.
8am: Spraying stops for an hour as pupils make their way to school.
8.30am: Anti-spray campaigner Dr Meriel Watts, a member of the sacked Community Advisory Group and one of MAF's most vocal critics on the painted apple moth operation, is shopping in Herne Bay after delaying going outside for two hours. Her Westmere home was included in this spray operation, the first time it has been in the zone.
The anti-pesticides campaigner and former Green Party candidate has just been notified by MAF that painted apple moth has been found in her garden.
9am: On this hot summer morning, Bayfield School pupils are having gym class indoors. Ten children have been kept home by worried parents, a corner of the school office is reserved for a library of information on the spray operation.
9.04am: The Fokker flies across Waikumete Cemetery above the older graves, and lower than many might have expected. It's hard not to feel vulnerable while standing in the rows of gravestones, as the plane roars overhead.
9.10am: The Fokker makes another pass over the cemetery, this time on the other side.
It resembles a plane doing tricks at an airshow. But the trail it leaves streaked across the sky is more than decoration.
A fine mist tingles on to this reporter's arms, making the hairs stand up.
9.15am: Westmere resident Cinnamon Lane is taking her usual morning walk down to Coxs Bay, pushing a stroller with her 1-year-old daughter asleep inside. Woken before 7am by a light plane flying overhead for the first time, the aerial campaign doesn't worry the 34-year-old. "I've got no drama with it, if it will save native trees then it's okay with me."
9.17am: Sarah Wells is visiting the grave of a relative in Waikumete. She pauses to shield her eyes with one hand, a stem of lilies in the other.
"It's necessary, I suppose," she says. "I don't much like the idea of it though. I don't even like the idea of it falling on the graves, let alone on me and the kids."
9.24am: The Fokker flies low over houses near Great North Rd. Rebecca White is sheltering with her two small children under the verandah of a nearby shop from the Btk insecticide.
"It's probably silly, isn't it? I'd just rather not take the chance."
They wait until five minutes after the spray is dropped before moving on.
9.30am: A young man and his daughter play "fetch" with a golden retriever as the Fokker shudders over Patts Reserve, a small park in Glendene.
"It's too hot and sunny to be inside," says Michael Fisher. His daughter Katya plays nearby.
"I'm not prepared to closet myself away. I don't believe there's any risks with the spray. I wouldn't have my baby out here otherwise."
Also in the neighbourhood George Watts is taking advantage of the still morning to do some spraying of his own - moss on his garden wall. As for the stuff coming from the sky, he says: "It's four times today and it smells. But it's got to be done."
The moth is a threat to forests and crops and could wreak millions of dollars in damage - according to MAF - so his is one of 40,400 households to be hit with the spray.
9.35am: A small whiteboard in the reception area of St Leonard's Rd School bears a reminder for teachers: "Painted apple moth spraying today! Children inside at morning tea and lunchtime. No PE or fitness today. This includes swimming."
"Welcome to the spray capital of the world," principal Darren Smith says by way of a greeting.
The school has been within the spray zone boundary since it started. Mr Smith says the school has always taken precautionary measures to protect its pupils. The school has about 400 5- to 11-year-olds.
The children stay in their classrooms, with windows and doors shut for much of the day. It seems tough for kids when the perfect spraying day - fine and still - is also a great day for playing outside.
"It's a little tough on the kids sure," Mr Smith says. "But I'm very aware that we are facing a serious biosecurity problem and that this pest needs to be eradicated swiftly. We have a great horticulture industry in this country and this needs to be done for the good of New Zealand."
Meanwhile Glendene resident Katrina Walsh and her friend Sharyn Wheelhouse, from Oratia, are taking a walk in the morning sun.
Mrs Walsh has her baby daughter asleep in a covered pram and her finger smears spray residue on the plastic cover.
The two women agree they should not be outside but they did not know about the spraying until they heard the plane.
"Spray times should be advertised on TV," says Mrs Walsh.
9.40am: The plane sweeps a high, wide arc over Glendene and banks away to refuel for the next stage of its 8500ha spray zone.
9.55 am: Vicky Basham, of Kelston, is out walking too, heading for the shops.
"I'm a bit asthmatic but I want to live as normally as possible through this,"she says.
She is concerned about her mother who has a lung problem and must stay indoors for two days.
"We still haven't proof that the spray is harmless. I was annoyed when we were told at the meetings that we had no say. MAF are a law unto themselves."
10.19am: Ray Hobson, a 67-year-old retired baker from Te Atatu, is shopping at the Kelston Shopping Centre. He is glad to be inside when the Fokker passes over.
"It gives your heart a bit of a flutter," he admits.
10.40 am: On the Te Atatu Peninsula Pat Fairweather is watching for the plane's return from his sundeck.
The retired carpenter is doing his bit. His bottlebrush tree holds a survey trap for male painted apple moths. MAF checks it every three days.
The spraying seems to be working, says Mr Fairweather. The trap is empty these days.
"I think it's for the greater good. You have to put up with inconvenience to have those Waitakere Ranges protected."
Herald feature: Environment
On a sunny, windless West Auckland morning, the biggest round yet of the triple-aircraft attack against painted apple moth pest took off at first light yesterday. Herald reporters ANNE BESTON, KATHERINE HOBY and WAYNE THOMPSON spoke to people living in the now extended spray zone.
5.30am: Auckland Zoo staff turn up
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