New $40m fund would help Mauao become predator free

Prime Minister Bill English has his photograph taken with the Chesswas family at Papamoa Plaza, (from left) Dayna with 2-year-old Joy and Daniel with 2-month-old Selah. Photo/Andrew Warner

Eradicating pests from Mauao and Kopurererua Valley have been mooted as projects ideally suited to the new $40 million fund announced by Conservation Minister Maggie Barry.

She was in Tauranga on Saturday with Prime Minister Bill English on a rain-affected visit that included talking to volunteers at Classic Flyers Museum and visiting the University of Waikato Adams High Performance Sports Centre.

Ms Barry's announcement was originally set down to be made at Moturiki (Leisure Island) on Mount Main Beach, but torrential rain drove them indoors to the Mount Ocean Sports Club at Pilot Bay.

About 80 people heard her announce that National would create a $40m contestable fund for predator-free community projects. It would be invested over four years and administered by Predator Free 2050 Ltd, the Crown-owned company driving the effort to rid New Zealand of introduced pests by 2050.

She promised a further $8m over four years to double the number of DOC rangers supporting Predator Free community groups.

Her other major announcement was $21m of new funding to boost DOC's baseline predator control scheme to help hit the interim target of having 1 million hectares under "sustained control" by 2025.

The National Party's Central North Island regional chairman, Andrew von Dadelszen, said two Tauranga pest eradication projects would be ideally suited to be funded from the $40m. They were to eradicate rats, stoats and possums from Mauao and the Kopurererua Valley wetlands.

Mr von Dadelszen is a Tauranga member of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Restoration of the wetlands that ran from the Judea industrial area to The Lakes was currently a Tauranga Rotary Club project, assisted by the Tauranga City Council.

Mr English also intended to watch Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller's 9-year-old daughter, Amelia, play hockey at Blake Park but the game was washed out.

It meant he spent longer at Papamoa Plaza where he mixed with shoppers and spoke to finalists of the secondary schools' Young Enterprise Scheme. Twelve senior students were showcasing their ideas and products at the plaza.

Mr Muller said the Prime Minister was mobbed on his walkabout. "It took half an hour to move about 10m. It was incredible."

Lunch was at the Rabbit Hole Cafe on Maunganui Rd followed by afternoon tea with the volunteers at Classic Flyers. Mr English attended the Tarnished Frocks and Divas production of Zoetica on Saturday night at ASB Arena.

"The Prime Minister thought it was absolutely fantastic," Mr Muller said.