Woolly nightshade subsidy phased out

If you own, rent or lease land in the Bay of Plenty you will now need to meet the full cost of controlling the invasive pest plant woolly nightshade, following the phasing out of a subsidy programme.

Under the Regional Pest Management Plan Property owners in the Bay of Plenty are responsible for managing woolly nightshade on their property.

After a phase-out period over the past four financial years, during which the woolly nightshade control subsidy was progressively reduced, the subsidy programme has come to an end.

"Managing woolly nightshade has been the most costly pest control programme in the region and we have helped many property owners with subsidised control work. The cost of this is not sustainable," General Manager Environmental Delivery, Warwick Murray, says.

"However, Regional Council staff are still available to help people and we encourage property owners to remain vigilant in their efforts to control woolly nightshade so they dont run the risk of it getting out of control and potentially, also spreading to other properties.

"Woolly nightshade grows quickly and takes over if not dealt with as early as possible. It has the potential to form massive forests," he says.

While the focus is shifting to surveillance and compliance, Regional Council staff are available for advice about how to control the plant and anyone who needs help with pest plants of any kind should contact a land management officer.

"Regional Council is in the early stages of implementing a bio-control programme for woolly nightshade which has proven very successful at several initial release sites," Mr Murray says. "This is a natural and long-term process which will take time to spread and while it wont kill all woolly nightshade in the Bay of Plenty, it should help reduce the density and vigour of infestations over large areas once the agent is established throughout the region.

"We are in the process of distributing the agent to worst-affected areas to speed up natural spread of the agent.

"People with significant problems on their land should contact us to discuss their situation and find out how we can help with their individual pest plant issues," Mr Murray says.

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Woolly nightshade subsidy phased out