Tukituki River Controlled Area Notice 2023

Tukituki River Controlled Area Notice 2023 The information shown on these maps is compiled from numerous sources, including LINZ, NIWA, StatsNZ, Eagle Technology, Natural Earth, and OpenStreetMap. This notice is given under Section 131 of the Biosecurity Act 1993 (the Act) by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

1. Commencement. This notice comes into force at 12am on Saturday 1 July 2023. This notice replaces the previous Tukituki River Controlled Area Notice that expires Friday 30 June at 11.59pm.

2. Purpose The purpose of this notice is to declare this area as a controlled area, establish movement controls, and specify conditions and procedures to enable the limitation of the spread of Nassella neesiana (Chilean needle grass) while enabling the movement of river gravel in order to allow repairs to rural infrastructure arising from the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.

3. Nassella neesiana (Chilean needle grass) is an unwanted organism under the Act. This river gravel carries a risk of containing Chilean needle grass seed owing to infestations upstream of the controlled area. The controlled area was formerly subject to a total extraction ban. However, surveys undertaken in the controlled area have not confirmed the presence of Chilean needle grass.

4. Interpretation Act means the Biosecurity Act 1993. Controlled Areas are the red and yellow areas shown on the maps in Schedules 1 and 2. 500m Buffer Zone is the area shown in blue on the map in Schedules 1 and 2, being the area within 500 metres of the main Tukituki river channel or the Waipawa river diversion that has occurred due to Cyclone Gabrielle . Property means real property and includes all land and interests in the property. Nassella neesiana will be referred to as Chilean needle grass in the context of this notice. Gravel from the river channel inside the controlled areas will be referred to as gravel in the context of this notice.

5. Controlled area declaration It is declared that the two areas set out below and as defined by the maps in Schedule 1 and 2, are controlled areas in respect of Chilean needle grass under section 131(2) of the Act. A) The area extending from the confluence of the Waipawa and Tukituki Rivers downstream to 2 kilometres below Patangata Bridge shown in yellow in Schedule 1 and 2. (Tukituki River Controlled Area). B) The area extending from the Waipawa river diversion at Walker Road, Waipawa, along the entirety of that diversion’s length shown in red in Schedule 1 and 2. (Waipawa River Diversion Controlled Area). The areas are controlled to enable the limitation of the spread of Chilean needle grass while enabling the movement of river gravel in order to allow repairs to rural infrastructure arising from the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.

6. Notice of movement controls Under section 131(3)(a) of the Act, notice is given that gravel may only be moved from the Controlled Areas within the Tukituki catchment if the following conditions are met:

A) Where gravel is moved from the Controlled Areas, the property or any part of the property where the gravel is moved to is within the 500 metre Buffer Zone. For the avoidance of doubt, a landowner or leaseholder of a property where only part of the property is located within the 500m Buffer Zone may move and use this gravel anywhere on that property that sits within the Tukituki catchment, subject to the remaining conditions below.

B) The owner or leaseholder of the property where the gravel is to be moved has lodged an application and received written approval from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to be eligible for use of this gravel for rural infrastructure repairs.

C) Any person removing gravel from the riverbed, moving the gravel or using it for repairs on a property must carry evidence of the landowner or leaseholder’s permission at all times while moving or otherwise using the gravel.

D) A landowner or leaseholder must keep records of the end use of any gravel used from the Controlled Area, as well as the location(s) on their property where it was used and provide this to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council on request. E) A landowner or leaseholder must allow access to their property by any Hawke’s Bay Regional Council compliance officer including Biosecurity Advisors to undertake any inspection for Chilean needle grass.

F) Any machinery operating in the movement of river gravel from the Controlled Areas or the use of that gravel or infrastructure repairs must be washed down and inspected by a Biosecurity Advisor before moving to a property or locality that is not eligible to use gravel from the Controlled Area. Any use of this gravel that contravenes the conditions set out in this notice is not permitted, and the landowner or leaseholder is liable to prosecution under sections 134, 154 (O) and 157 of the Act.

7. Expiry and timeframes This notice expires at 11.59pm on August 31 2023. Applications to use gravel for rural infrastructure repairs close on August 10 2023, and all extraction from the Controlled Areas must cease at the expiry date of this notice. Bill Bayfield Interim Chief Executive For more information phone 068359200 or apply at hbrc.info/TukitukiCAN

30 June 2023

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