Pest and Weed control on public land

Thank you for the opportunity to submit ideas.

I would love to see the wilding pines in Council reserve land killed. This includes in the Essons valley and the hills above Picton including beside the Tirohanga track. 

Also the invasive weeds in Victoria domain are rampant in places. Old Man's Beard, Banana passion vine and Japanese honey suckle are smothering native regeneration to the point of death of native trees. Also there are ever growing patches of tradescantia spreading in places. I believe there has been a couple of biocontrols introduced over in Tasman Bay for this. Are we also giving that a go? 

I read with interest the Lincoln University report in the issue of accacia in Picton and Waikawa, and while I noted that the report concluded that under certain circumstances the native bush can come up to top over the wattles, that browser control is important for this to happen as stated in the report. I also note that the worst areas for accacia in Picton also have many goats and often pigs browsing them and therefore can I suggest the bush has no chance to overtake the accacia there and this on-going issue needs to be tackled. Rather than one or the other, lets address the problems of BOTH invasive accacia AND UNGULATES. Our hills are dry and therefore the bush grows slowly. The more help we can give it the better. 

On that - where are we at with ungulate control in the Essons valley? 

Cheers! 

Enhancement of biodiversity in Picton, Waikawa and surrounds. Benefits nature which benefits people. Also, supports income through tourism as most of our visitors come to enjoy our landscapes and nature.