Kiwi conservation hits locals in pocket

Richard and Bernadette Schofield are refusing to pay a $50 pest control levy, saying kiwi conservation is a national issue. Photo / John Stone

A new pest control levy has some Whangarei Heads residents caught in a trap and refusing to pay.

Richard and Bernadette Schofield paid their ballooning council rates bill this week, minus a new $50 Northland Regional Council targeted rate which they knew nothing of until their bill arrived.

The rate was imposed specifically on Whangarei Heads residents to support community pest control efforts to help protect endangered kiwi in the area.

Mr Schofield said he was refusing to pay in protest " it was unfair that conservation of the kiwi, a national icon, was being put on one small group.

This should be paid for by the central Government, which allocated $11.2 million towards kiwi conservation in its most recent budget, Mr Schofield said.

"The kiwi are released onto Department of Conservation land. How is this a regional council issue?" he said.

The 2060 rateable units at Whangarei Heads would bring in $103,000 from the new levy, which would support community groups setting traps on private land.

Mr Schofield said the rate was the regional council targeting a group they saw as having money to spare.

"The 9 per cent [Whangarei District Council rates] increase cost me $180 [a year], and as a pensioner I'm facing a 29 per cent increase in NRC rates. Our rates [at the Heads] are already higher than average," he said.

Northland Regional Council biosecurity manager Don McKenzie said it was important to understand that pest control funding from the Government would be spent only on Department of Conservation Land.

"This rate applies to private land, it cannot be spent on Crown land ... kiwi traverse land of all tenure, so this rate will be spent on ratepayer land," Mr McKenzie said. "Private land is where we're seeing the greatest increase in kiwi activity because of the community work that's going on."

Mr McKenzie said community pest control had previously been funded by general rates.

"Now, it's essentially a dollar a week to have a New Zealand icon in your back yard."

NRC chairman Bill Shepherd said he was confident the majority of the Heads community were behind the plan. "They asked for it and we said, this is what it will cost you. We got overwhelming support for putting this rate in place."