Concerns about the wildfire risk from the uncontrolled pest plants on properties near Cardrona village were raised at a public meeting at the Cardrona Hall this week.
The meeting was called following the Otago Regional Council’s (ORC) response to a complaint by Cardrona residents.
Cardrona resident Kate Hastings, who laid the original complaint about neighbouring properties, said the response from the regional council worried her.
"When we contacted ORC, who are great at responding, they didn’t say ‘they won’t’: it was ‘they can’t’.
"Well, what’s the point of you if you can’t do anything — that was the problem," she said.
Community members at the meeting expressed frustration that the ORC had contacted absentee landowners about the removal of the pest plants from their properties — but those requests had been ignored.
A member of the crowd, who did not identify himself, said five years ago "everybody was informed" about the requirement to clear their land.
"This is bulls...," he said.
"Look, you can have another committee to pass a remit and then get another goddamn committee to action that remit — enough’s enough, guys."
ORC chief executive Richard Saunders told the crowd he was committed to resolving the issues.
"There was a significant investment made in the biosecurity space at ORC.
"As we can see from this example, even with those additional resources, the breadth of the pest management plan means that we don’t have the resources to do everything required of us in that pest management plan."
Mr Saunders said there had been no surveillance engagement with landowners until now.
"That is a resourcing thing, and that’s just the reality.
"It’s not an excuse, it’s just what we have, in terms of what the team has been focused on.
"A lot of other work is happening in the region in the biosecurity space, but we’ve just dropped the ball on this, and we’ve put our hand up and acknowledged that, and hopefully we can fix it moving forward," he said.
Cardrona resident Sean, who declined to give his surname, said if the community saw some "physical allocation of resource, they might sit back and say things are different".
"I’m aghast at the fact that there’s been nothing happening and you haven’t enforced it once again.
"I’m bitter about the relationship with QLDC [Queenstown Lakes District Council] and Doc [the Department of Conservation] because we’re all a victim of their enforcement and their protocols and here they are being disrespectful to you, so I think as an individual in the community I’d love to see them taken to task on it and see them tidy up their lane," he said.
The ORC website states the goal of the pest plan is to sustainably control gorse and broom and to prevent negative effects on both production and land value.
"Gorse and broom are pests as they produce massive numbers of long-lived seeds, mature and grow rapidly, and are able to establish in a range of habitats.
"Gorse and broom are only considered pests under our pest plan in the gorse and broom-free areas and rural-zoned proper ties," the regional council website says.
The website says gorse and broom were originally brought to New Zealand by settlers from Europe in the 1800s.
Cardrona Valley Residents and Ratepayers Society secretary Tim Allen said the issue largely stemmed from absentee landowners.
"Ironically, Cardrona is within ORC’s gorse and broom-free area, an area that has defined procedures regarding how ORC enforces its Regional Pest Management Plan (RPMP).
"Rule 6.4.3.2 of ORC’s RPMP specifically states that ORC action pertaining to non-compliance will ‘be initiated upon a complaint in writing from the adjoining affected landowner’, but ORC refused to do so when a complaint was submitted," he said.
