Pūkeko are ripping out new council wetland plantings in Pāpāmoa. Photo / George Novak
Some Pāpāmoa residents have been tirelessly battling the council's wetlands creation and it appears the local pūkeko have joined the fight.
More than 100 plantings bordering the swampland off Oriental Parade in Pāpāmoa have been ripped out by local pūkeko.
The shrubbery was planted as a part of the Tauranga City Council's Wairakei Landscape Plan, which would see 51 sediment-retention wetlands created along the Wairakei stream and stormwater reserve.
The total budget allocated to the plan was $5.3 million, with more than a million dollars going towards the shrub planting.
The plan had seen heavy opposition from a large number of Pāpāmoa residents, with more than a hundred residents turning out to protest the plan last month.
However, since the council began the planting the pūkeko have been having a good time ripping the plants out and eating the roots off the bottom.
Pāpāmoa resident Bob Dallas said he walked by the swamp areas every day and often saw small groups of pūkeko ripping out the wetland shrub.
He said they came down early in the mornings when the ground was damp and soft and would rip the new council wetland plantings straight out of the dirt.
"There is usually about four or five of them and they get through them really fast."
Many walkers would see them, he said, but "you would be here all day if you tried to chase them away".
A council spokeswoman said it would be keeping an eye on the area to try to prevent any further damaging activity.
When the Bay of Plenty Times went down to see the devastation first-hand, about 10 to 15 pūkeko were spotted in the area.
According to the New Zealand Birds Online website, pūkeko are considered an agricultural or garden pest, because they pull up and eat planted crops. They have a taste for stems, shoots, roots and leaves.
The bird is well-known for being destructive and pulling out vegetables or plants by their stems to eat roots from the bottom.
Dallas said his main concern was the waste of ratepayer money to put in plants and maintain them when they did not stand much of a chance against the pūkeko population.
A council spokeswoman confirmed the cost for the first three sets of planting was $1.2 million.
She said as part of the council's agreement with its contractor, the contractor is responsible for supplying, planting and maintaining the plants for the first two years at a fixed cost.
"This includes replanting, therefore, there is no additional cost to ratepayers for any additional work or plants that may be required."
Oriental Parade resident Paul Clifford, who lives in front of the wetlands, said he thought the plantings were a "waste of money" and he did not believe the council could adequately maintain them.
He said he had also seen pūkeko eating away at the plants and that it was "fair game to them if the food source is there".
The ratepayer money could definitely be put to better use, Clifford said.
The plants were there to improve the water quality, filtering pollutants from runoff water that might otherwise need chemical treatment, said the council spokeswoman.
Another nearby resident, Mike Summers, said the planting was a "fantastic idea" and would help absorb water in flood conditions and stop runoff like a "natural filter".
He said it was a great catchment area and habitat for natural wildlife. Nonetheless, he thought it was quite funny that the pūkeko were munching away at the plant roots.
As he walked the track, Summers could be seen putting a few of the plants back himself with his foot.
The council spokeswoman said the biggest risk to the plants at this stage was interference by people.
Planting in the area has been going on since April.
