Council's stance on animal pest control methods

Where possible, the use of trapping, hunting and using non-residual poisons to manage animal pest control in our District is a strategy our Council continues to advocate to central government.

"This is a stance our Council has taken since 2009, and it has not changed," says Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Sandra Goudie.

In December last year our Council was presented with several petitions calling for stopping aerial 1080 drops as a form of pest control used by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Waikato Regional Council (WRC). We see equally other parts of the Coromandel community, including prominent conservationists and conservation organisations, that support aerial poisoning as an important conservation tool for pest control.

"Our Council has no legislative function relating to decisions around pest control and is often incorrectly viewed by the community as sanctioning 1080 pest control," says Mayor Sandra.

Our Council is notified by DOC and WRC when aerial drops are to occur.

DOC will continue to monitor our water supplies following any future 1080 drop and also has the responsibility to alert the public if there is a risk to public health and safety.

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