Ratepayers billed thousands for possum botchup

The careless and "negligent" handling of a pest control operation by Waikato Regional Council has forced ratepayers to pick up a tab of at least $30,000, and cost a Thames forest company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Details of the botched possum control operation at Te Mata Forest, and the subsequent settlement, were outlined in a claim for damages, summarised by regional council biosecurity and natural heritage manager John Simmons, and obtained by the Waikato Times.

The settlement relates to a possum eradication programme ordered and contracted out by the regional council in 2009.

The operation in the 471-hectare block of private land north of Thames resulted in significant damage to sections of the pine forest when nails and fencing staples were driven into the trees and the trunks "blazed".

The company awarded the contract, Furpro, went bankrupt soon after the operation. Its indemnity insurance had lapsed.

Te Mata Forest Ltd claimed damages of $753,000 for the destruction of the plantation, but the two parties settled on a payment to Te Mata of $300,000, the document said.

The regional council was to pay $30,000 and its insurer $270,000.

The council confirmed a payment has been made, but chief executive Vaughan Payne said he could not disclose the settlement sum.

Payne said the vast bulk of the settlement was met by the council's insurers, not ratepayers, and changes had been made since the incident.

"One of the steps we have taken following this case is to ensure that we now sight our contractors' paid-up, receipted insurance policies."

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Ratepayers billed thousands for possum botchup