to check them all and until recently she was doing it weekly. She’s just cut back to every two to three weeks, as the catch rate has dropped. Becky hopes that’s a sign the traps are starting to make an impact on predator numbers in the town. “Hopefully it’s helping.” Asked why she does it, the answer is simple: “They are not supposed to be here.” “I don’t like killing things but it’s just one of those things that we have to do,” she says. “If either natives or predators have to die I would rather
Predator control in rural Taranaki is vital to the success of Towards a Predator-Free Taranaki. High-tech traps will be used in rural areas. It forms a large chunk of the work to ultimately remove predators and prevent re-infestations across the region’s 700,000 hectares. Many landowners and occupiers are already trapping possums and doing an awesome job - dropping numbers to below a 10% residual catch rate (fewer than 10 possums per 100 traps). But we need to expand this work to restore
told. Details of the impact on Council budgets, charges and rates will be fully discussed and tested during public consultation on the Long-Term Plan early next year. Implementation of the requirements requires work in six areas – planning, consenting, compliance, science services, communications and tangata whenua engagement. And with Councils now required to ‘consider and recognise’ Te Mana o te Wai in freshwater management, there are also likely to be changes in decision-making processes and the
trapper in Urenui found a sweet-salty combination of Nutella and bacon was a real winner, while another in the city had success with a pineapple lump.” Mr Shanley cautioned trappers not to be discouraged by a sudden drop in catch numbers, after initially catching plenty. This drop-off was quite normal and it was important to keep trapping so the population was unable to re-establish. "It's really important that trappers keep going even when their catch rate drops or they stop catching anything. Trap
urban, rural and conservation land. Taranaki Regional Council monitoring data shows intensive predator control may already be making a difference – rats and possums in urban New Plymouth are decreasing, while the trapping network in rural and urban areas is expanding rapidly, Mr MacLeod says. Monitoring, using rat footprint tracking and a possum bite-mark index, show catch rates have dropped; rats went from 33 per cent to 19 percent in the past year, while the urban New Plymouth possum index has
During the 2023/24 monitoring year, the Council also collected one water sample from Te Kiri o Rauru
Spring. The Company supplied records of their own monitoring, as well as records of the volume of water
abstracted and the volume of wastewater discharged.
No breaches of the daily abstraction volume limits were recorded for the production bores during the
monitoring period. There were occasional exceedances of the instantaneous abstraction rate that were above
the permitted measurement error
District Council, as well as Sport Taranaki and the rugby union, have been fully consulted and he is confident they understand and support the TRC’s approach. The vision for the Stadium has been amended to emphasise its broad usability. The first aim in the new vision statement is: “The best regional stadium in New Zealand that regularly hosts local, regional, national and international sporting and entertainment events.” The project’s $50 million budget remains unchanged but Yarrow Stadium rates will
Monitoring is carried out by both the Company and the Council. The Company monitors water abstraction
rate, effluent flow rate and composition, receiving water quality, odour at the plant boundaries, effluent
loadings and soil and herbage for irrigation areas. The Council undertakes inspections of the plant site and
irrigation areas. Monitoring includes effluent quality checks and inter-laboratory comparisons, surface water
and ground water quality monitoring, air quality and biological monitoring.
is ‘objectionable or offensive’ and thus in breach of Council’s Regional Air Quality Plan (RAQP). The Council deals with about 200 air-quality complaints and incidents annually. The analysis, part of a review of the RAQP, found that there is generally good compliance by those with resource consents allow air discharges, with a non-compliance rate of 2%, mostly involving odour. Three consented sites have accounted for more than half of recent incidents and complaints involving consent-holders.
Policy and Planning Committee Agenda 4 February 2025