Environment - Auckland Council Long Term Plan Submissions

Please help. Now is the key time to have your say and really have an impact on funding for
the environment. Have your say on the Auckland Long Term Plan and Regional Pest
Management Plan and you could really change the funding we have available to enhance
our environment. Here is a chance to really increase the size of the pie and this is the
priority. We can debate the finer detail later. Please pass this on now to friends and family.

We have been in contact with many other groups and people across Auckland with
developing what we recommend here. Please take a few minutes to support us and have
your say. Ideally today with the deadline being March 28th. There is an enclosed file that
provides a bit more detail and that you can include in your submission at the end.

Click on this link for the Long Term Plan.

https://engage.ubiquity.co.nz/surveys/mom8LOQAZkiKnAjVaiCmfQ

Scroll to the bottom and click on Start. (You can view consultation document if you wish)

Fill in your details and include Franklin Local Board. Click on next

Q1 Tick support

Q2 Tick support

Q3 Copy and paste the following in the please tell us why. This is in line with Forest &
Bird and what other landcare groups are submitting and has been well discussed.

I DO NOT support options A or B. I support OTHER - I want to protect our forests and
communities from invading pests like kauri dieback, predators and weeds, therefore I want
full funding for the Regional Pest Management Plan and for our natural environment at an
estimated $60/year / average rate payer.

Q4 As you wish. (It is very tempting to put in that by now we should be starting to see
some of the economies of scale and efficiencies kicking in with the abolition of the ARC and
Council amalgamation but not sure if this may be counterproductive to the Environment
spend. Couldn’t get any clear feedback from Council people on this).

Q5 As you wish

Q6 Tick Franklin

Q7 As you wish

Below Q7 there is a tab where you can ‘Upload New File’. You may have to download the
attached file onto your computer before you can upload into here. Alternatively copy the
attached file and simply paste into the Q3 ‘Please tell us why space’

Complete the rest as you wish.

Now click on this link for the Regional Pest Management Plan
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-
on/regional-pest-management-plan/Pages/default.aspx

Click on submit feedback

Scroll to bottom and click on ‘Start’

Answer questions as you wish but to keep it simple you can simply go down to the bottom of
Q9 and in the ‘Upload New File’ include the same attached document.

Complete the rest of the survey as requested

If you have any questions you are welcome to call Andrew Sinclair on 021 268 1904.

Below is the general feedback information that is the same content as the attached file. You
may wish to copy and paste this in the appropriate boxes in Q2 & 3 if you prefer.

General Feedback Re the AC LTP and RPMP we in general fully support the larger
spend on the environment and full implementation of the RPMP. Auckland with only 2% of
the total land area of NZ and around 1/3rd of the rate payers should be leading the way with
funding care of the environment. We have many of New Zealand’s endangered bird species
right on our doorstep with both the off shore islands and the Hunua’s/Waitakere’s. The
general environment for these species to spread beyond these borders is currently
extremely poor.

This is common sense. It is a growing long term trend that people care more about the
environment in which they live. With the NZ ‘Pure’ brand and Auckland striving to be the
most liveable city in the world it is clear there should be more focus in this area.

Protecting our Environment / Pest Control

Private Land With the consultation documents it was difficult to establish much clarity on
the level of funding that would be committed to private land. This represents 85% of
Auckland’s total land area and if the LTP is to be in line with the likes of Predator Free 2050
then private land needs to be incorporated in the plan. It appeared that the main budget for
private land would be just focusing on possum control. Again this seems more in line with
the old goal of TB Free NZ rather than a focus on enhancing biodiversity. For enhancing
biodiversity our experience has shown that at least the animal pests of rats, mustelids and
feral cats need to be targeted with appropriate levels of funding.

Working with Communities There was little reference as to how the plan would connect
and fund community groups. We see this as a key priority. To achieve the goals of improving
the environment Auckland wide there has to be considerably more behaviour change by all
of us. This requires direct influence of communities. Council can provide funding and
technical expertise but when it comes to private landowners then community groups are an
important part of a collaborative approach as unlike Council they are the ones with credibility
among their community. Jan Wright in her final environment report identified the need to
have a more coordinated approach across NZ with working with communities.
The collaborative community approach needs to be clearer. It is well documented throughout
the world that community groups consistently deliver environmental outcomes and
permanent behaviour change at 1/5th - 1/10th of when paid staff or contractors are used. In
our own area we have some great examples with landowners who have been regularly
carrying out pest control for over 10 years along AC guidelines of pulse baiting 4 times a
year. The annual materials cost is less than $5/ha. The biodiversity outcomes are
considerable. Despite ongoing pest reinvasion we have bird monitoring data that shows very
high kereru and tui counts. In fact we have properties now averaging double what the kereru
counts are at Maungatautari Sanctuary which is a completely predator free environment. Our
tui counts are the same as Maungatautari. We had bats monitored by AC and the frequency
over the 7 week period of monitoring was as high as the highest bat frequency recorded
sites in the middle of the Hunua’s where reinvasion issues are much less etc. We have
increasing numbers of kaka visiting each year and staying for longer.

Water
We should at least have all beaches where we can safely swim all year around. Other water
quality issues are also important to the wellbeing of people and the environment. An
example of the current situation in our local area is we have the Whangamaire stream which
is one of the longest waterways in Auckland. The nitrate levels consistently average 15mg/L.
This may well be the highest of any stream in NZ. It is way beyond the upper national
guideline limit of 6.9 and the WHO safe drinking water limit of 11.3. It compares poorly with
the Waikato at over 20x more concentration of nitrates where even in the lower reaches at
Mercer the level is only .69mg/L. From our own sampling with Waicare the Mauku stream,
also one of Auckland’s longest, is not much better with an estimate of 10mg/L. It is not even
regularly sampled by AC as one of the key streams of Auckland despite it being in the top 4
longest waterways.

Franklin Local Board (FLB)

General Franklin represents 24% of the total area of Auckland which is obviously very
significant from the potential biodiversity that can be achieved Auckland wide. It includes the
Hunua’s that so far remains free from kauri dieback and where the public access is
considerably less than in the likes of the Waitakere’s. There is a considerable amount of
privately owned farm land and already there are 3 very active, long established Landcare
groups with Awhitu Peninsula Landcare, Whakaupoko Landcare and Te Wairoa Catchment.
On top of this DOC is about to provide some initiative funding to help establish a
collaborative approach incorporating all the Landcare groups. This provides AC with an ideal
cost effective community engagement launch pad for the LTP and fully funded RPMP.

Compatability The higher level of support for environment funding and the RPMP is
very much in line with what FLB have proposed for 2018/19. This is especially with point 2
‘Focus on caring for our natural environment …..’ and point 3 ‘Start on the ground delivery of
local trails….. We will support local communities and trail trusts to get routes in place and
promote their use’.