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Alan Willoughby is considering a public campaign to change the legal status of privet, so the Bay of Plenty Regional Council can act to clear the plant growing near his Welcome Bay home.
Healthy privet beside Welcome Bay Road. Photo: Alan Willougby.
Alan and his asthmatic and hay fever suffering wife live across Welcome Bay Road from flourishing privet growing on neglected land between Oteki Park Drive and Waikite Road. His most recent complaint to the Tauranga City Council was referred to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council which states it cannot do anything about it.
Privet is a restricted pest plant under the regional council's pest management plan, prohibiting propagation and distribution of privet within the Bay of Plenty Region. The regional council encourages land owners to control privet and offers advice, but it cannot require landowners to control privet.
Because of the concerns of neighbours the regional council has contacted the owners of the land, the Auckland directors of CDL Land New Zealand Ltd, Boo Keng Chiu and John Lindsay.
Regional council communications advisor Katrina Knill says this included several site visits with the owners' contractors. The last visit was in May 2014.
'Unfortunately no control work has resulted, despite follow up calls by our staff to the landowners representative over the following three months,” says the statement.
The regional council expects the work to cost between $3000 and $10,000.
The only hope the regional council holds out for Alan and his wife is that the pest management plan is up for review in the 2016/2017 financial year and public submissions are invited on any changes people might want to see.
There's not just privet on the land, it also supports flourishing woolly nightshade, lantana, climbing kumara, and honeysuckle, says Alan.
'If I had that stuff growing on my land I would think the council would be down on me like a ton of bricks,” says Alan.
The land is zoned greenbelt says Alan. In 2006 the owners move to change the zoning to residential was opposed by residents including Alan.
'It's basically unusable land and I think the owners have got no interest in it whatsoever. It's a liability for them. I think they should be held to account they have already made their money out of it. '
3 comments
Rabbit's Bro
Posted on 24-01-2016 16:03 | By Rabbit's Bro
As an Asthmatic and also being unfortunate enough to be highly allergic to pollen and any perfumed substances or plants, I absolutely hate privet and all its relatives for making my life hell during the Spring and Summer. I would welcome it being outlawed because pretty flower doesn't cut it. Many thousands of us really welcome being able to breathe. I would so like to have it outlawed and destroyed, but sadly there are too many apathetic people around including the owners of various sections and hedges that it grows in.
Call the owners
Posted on 24-01-2016 20:29 | By CC8
Yes call them ,it is easy to see details about a company director from the Companies website, and then use the info gathered there to find those persons in the white pages. Why not appeal directly to the owners of the company....it was formerly known as Landcorp...and there have been quite a few Tauranga based directors...who are probably still owners of the company . If you look deeeply enough into the listing on the companies website there are phone numbers and names associated with the company....the directors may not even know what their contractors are doing...most people want to be good neighbours...just ask them .
amongst those owners
Posted on 24-01-2016 20:44 | By CC8
The landowner is a holding company whose biggest shareholder is a large international Hotel Chain, further down the list ACC Corporation of New Zealand.
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