ANNEX 4 : HAWKE'S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL
1.0 - Introduction
Hawke's Bay Regional Council is based in Napier City, and administers an area of 1,050,000 ha. The region incorporates a variety of land use types, from high country tussock grasslands farming in the tops of the Ruahine Ranges, to intensive horticultural production on the base of the Heretaunga Plains. The region contains 40% of the nations pipfruit plantings, and is a significant area for vegetable production. The majority of the pastoral farming is in intensive sheep and beef production, with an even ratio of sheep: beef stock units. Dairying is a significant land use, and grazing of dairy cattle is becoming more important for sheep and beef farmers in the area. A breakdown of land use in the Hawke's Bay region is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 : Land Use in Hawke's Bay Region 45
Population46 |
Proportion of Total |
|
Total |
140,000 |
|
Districts : |
||
Wairoa |
10,000 |
7% |
Hastings |
65,000 |
46% |
Napier City |
52,000 |
37% |
Central Hawke's Bay |
13,000 |
9% |
Urban Areas: |
||
Napier |
52,000 |
37% |
Hastings |
57,000 |
41% |
Total Urban |
109,000 |
78% |
| Number of Farms: | 3,850 |
|
| Land Use | Area (ha) |
Proportion of Total |
Grazing, arable etc |
778,000 |
74% |
Horticulture |
16,000 |
2% |
Exotic Forestry |
179,000 |
17% |
Other |
78,000 |
7% |
Total |
1,050,000 |
100% |
The population of Hawke's Bay is largely urban dominant, with Napier and Hastings accounting for 80% of the ratepayers. This urban dominance is reflected to some extent in the elected members to the Council. Maori Trusts are significant landholders in the region, whose properties are a mix of productive and non-productive land.
2.0 Historical Context
Pest control was adopted as a Council function at its formation in 1989. The policies and practices of Pest Destruction Boards and Councils were adopted and continued through to the present day, with only minor changes. The pests controlled in Hawke's Bay under the Noxious Plants Act and Agricultural Pests Destruction Act are detailed in Table 2. Animal pests were managed by the Council on a service delivery basis, with all properties receiving a visit once every five years for monitoring with some control, although performance under the five yearly return period criteria was mixed. Plant pest inspections similarly involved a visit every five years, although properties with known infestations of target plates were visited annually. There was limited, unofficial service delivery for target plants of very low infestation; otherwise control was the landholder's responsibility.
Control under this regime was largely focused on agricultural land. On forested areas there was a loose arrangement with respect to service delivery for pest control, since control was only needed for the early part of tree establishment. Occasionally this work was invoiced where it was considered the control costs were beyond what could be supported by rate contributions. In addition to this work, the Regional Council conducted Possum control for Tb reasons to extend the AHB buffer area. There was limited control of pests for purely environmental reasons.
In general there appears to have been few major concerns with the previous Regional Council regime of pest control. The major issues from landholders and the Regional Councils perspective, which also arose in the development of the RPMSs were:
- Concern over the rates paid on forestry land for service delivery;
- Rates paid for service delivery on unproductive land;
- The cost effectiveness of some of the control methods used;
- The interface with DoC in terms of animal control;
- The clearing of roadsides and the perceived unfairness of making landholders responsible for this;
- The hiding of service delivery by Noxious Plant Officers in respect of target plants of limited distribution.
Prior to the development of the strategies, funding was derived 70% from a rural works and services based on land area, and 30% from a general rate based on land value.
45 Statistics New Zealand . Source : Agricultural
Production Census for the year ending 1994.
46 Population Statistics from 1991 Census.
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