The Central Otago District Council has reported they will delay wilding pine eradication work on council-owned land on the Half Mile near Alexandra, to allow more time to work through concerns raised by neighbouring residents. 

The work was scheduled to happen between 11-31 October, as a joint project between the Central Otago Wilding Conifer Control Group and (CODC) in the continuing battle against the invasive conifer species.

Local resident Ken Churchill reached out to the council after reading Wednesdays news on The Central App. Wilding pines to get the chop on Half Mile and Manorburn

“I felt misled and disappointed that no one from council had consulted those living in the area. Not only do we have concerns about losing a popular recreation spot, but it is also home to geckos, and many native birds including Tuis, bellbirds and recent arrival is a morepork”.

There are also concerns around the wind break which the trees provide for the area.

Wednesdays news story on The Central App reported The Vincent Community Board had budgeted $25,000 for eradicating the wilding pines from council-owned land, which includes a block on the Half Mile reserve to the south of Alexandra and the Lower Manorburn Dam reserve further north.

Council’s contribution towards this covers part of the overall cost, with the balance being contributed by the Central Otago Wilding Conifer Control Group (CWG) through its funding agreements with the Ministry of Primary Industries.

Wilding pines on the 15-hectare Half Mile site had been causing significant issues, CODC Parks and Recreation manager Gordon Bailey said.

“As a responsible landowner, controlling wilding pines on Council land will help the surrounding landowners by mitigating the spread of wilding pines from council-owned land. The Half Mile

is known as a take-off site, because of the prevailing nor’ wester, which disperses the seed in an easterly direction. The board has put aside funding to ensure wildings on its land are removed so they no longer disperse seed.”

Any mature trees would also be harvested and sold from the Half Mile to help offset removal costs. Once the trees were cleared, the board would investigate opportunities for the site.

The Lower Manorburn Dam reserve has about 4 ha of wilding pines on the dam end of the reserve. These pines have the potential to disperse seed into neighbouring farmland which have in recent years invested in controlling wilding pines within their properties.

This was the first time the Council had allocated funds to control wilding pine on council-owned land, including the 4-ha Lower Manorburn Dam site. Remaining hot spots on council land at Ranfurly, Roxburgh and Cromwell would also get the chop in the next three years.

Central Otago Wilding Conifer Control Group (CWG) project manager Nigel Moir was pleased that the Half Mile site had

been identified as a significant seed source and that his group could work in

with the Council to come up with a solution.

All has been delayed until further investigations can take place. 

To keep updated on revised project dates and more information, you can go to the Council website: https://www.codc.govt.nz/your-council/news?item=id:2fmnttuu11cxbytej6