Re: Any consultation, consent? January 16 letter.
The plant “spartina” is listed in the council’s Plant Pest Management Strategy as a “progressive containment plant” — look it up on their website — which does mean that consultation has been done when the strategy was being drawn up. Now the requirement would be to notify the public as to when the spraying is going to take place.
Two points stick out here: one is that I would consider the river and mudflats to be under the control of the Department of Conservation not GDC, but I may be wrong there — so worth checking out. Second, the late Catchment Board and council of the time had a reason to plant the spartina in the first place. So, has the planting met that objective? If it has, then leave well alone.
Ken Ovenden
