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The war on invasive weeds is set to continue in Rodney after Rodney Local Board allocated $30,000 to weed control projects.
The funding will be used to control climbing asparagus near Tawharanui and to expand the Warkworth War on Weeds programme to other towns in Rodney.
Auckland Council biosecurity advisor Jane O’Hagan says the climbing asparagus control programme involves eradicating the weed within a two-kilometre buffer zone of Tawharanui.
“The weed is spread by birds eating the seeds. They can transport seeds about two kilometres, so if we can eradicate climbing asparagus within two kilometres of the open sanctuary then hopefully we can prevent it gaining a foothold.”
Climbing asparagus smothers the ground where it grows, preventing native seedling from establishing and also strangles larger plants as it grows.
“There is a particularly bad spot on Takatu Road, but it is throughout the Auckland region. We can only afford to control it in areas in proximity to regional parks.”
The three-year project is expected to cost over $60,000, split between the Board and Council. The Board has spent $20,000 on the project over the past two years and committed a further $10,000 at its business meeting last month.
Auckland Council also spent $20,000 on the project last year and intends to allocate a further $10,000 this year.
“The weed is hard to control and has to be sprayed by hand by professionals. The difficulty of the terrain also makes it time-consuming work. In some areas, contractors have had to rappel down steep banks to reach weeds.”
The community group Takatu Landcare has also employed a contractor to expand the area controlled and Auckland Transport has agreed to target weeds within the road corridor on Takatu Road.
The Board has allocated a further $20,000 to establish volunteer weeding groups in towns around Rodney after the successful War on Weeds pilot in Warkworth.
The Board spent $20,000 on the pilot last year, which funded resources and advertising to raise awareness of invasive weeds and coordinate volunteer weeding days throughout the area. Two weed amnesty days were also held.
The towns haven’t been identified yet, but Ms O’Hagan says they could include Wellsford and Helensville.
The funding will also be spent printing 10,000 brochures which list the invasive weeds in Rodney, the damage they cause, and the best way of managing them.
The pamphlets were produced by Waitakere Local Board last year and it is expected to cost $4500 to print a further 10,000 copies. They will be distributed to selected homes in Rodney.
The Board has also allocated $10,000 to an industrial pollution prevention project in Wellsford. The project includes a brochure to inform businesses about local waterways and how to protect them, and an audit and assessment of all sites handling substances with pollution risks. The Board allocated $15,000 to a similar programme in Kumeu/Huapai and Helensville last year.
