The council handed back responsibility for controlling rabbits five years ago and Central Otago runholders seemed unfazed and unsurprised by the move to offload assets when contacted yesterday.
They said the council had already walked away, had not been effective in the past, and they had their own measures in place to deal with the problem.
Consultation began last week and the council stated its rabbit control assets were no longer required.
‘‘Some are in poor condition and require repair or repurposing as spare parts,’’ the consultation document said.
The consultation, open until June 3, asks what council should do with its carrot cutters, oat cookers, and depot in Galloway, near Alexandra, housing the gear.
Robbie Gibson, of Malvern Downs, near Tarras, said it was ‘‘disappointing’’ and while the council had passed on responsibility, those assets could alleviate the rabbit problem if it worsened.
‘‘When they gave it away a few years ago they lost all that expertise.’’
The situation was ‘‘buggered up’’ by smaller landholders moving to the area who possibly did not know how to do their ‘‘bit’’ and opposed some pest control measures, he said.
The representation on the council did not necessarily reflect the people it served, and there was a strong ‘‘green element’’ which made the concept of pest control problematic, he said.
Duncan Campbell, of Earnscleugh Station near Alexandra, was reluctant to talk about the move but was unsurprised.
‘‘We’ve been doing our own [pest control] stuff for 15-20 years anyway.’’
Otago Regional Council general manager operations Gavin Palmer said the council had been approached about selling the assets and the issue was brought to the council last year.
Three options depending on the outcome of consultation were before the council: disposing of poison assets to allow private contractors to take over, leasing the assets to private contractors, or recommissioning them for council to re-enter the market as a provider of poison and pest control, either a commercially, or rates-funded.
Assets the council was consulting on would potentially be of more use in the hands of the market to enable landowners to undertake or contract rabbit control on their own properties, he said.
