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Auckland Council will begin early consultation for its regional pest management plan, as new pest issues emerge.
At council’s policy and planning committee on September 12, members approved early public consultation materials for the Regional Pest Management Plan 2030-2040.
Head of natural environment specialist services Imogen Bassett said there were five key topics the early consultation process would focus on – caulerpa, freshwater gold clam, cat management for wildlife protection, predator free islands and climate resilience.
“We have over 300 species of pests in our existing plan already so it’s very broad. We are not asking about all of them at the moment but just a few key issues where we know there are some emerging big ticket problems – we don’t know necessarily how the public feel about them,” she said.
The new plan does not need to be in place until 2030 and Bassett said while it may seem like a long time away it was a lengthy and cumbersome process.
She said the consultation would be aimed at key stakeholders and people who were already in touch with these issues.
“This is quite a niche topic from our previous consultations. We don’t think it’s worth spending lots of money on talking into the ether to the general public because a lot of people aren’t really that engaged.”
The early public consultation period opens on October 25.
