Aerial weed spraying for farming halted in Wellington regional park

Wednesday, 24 August 2022

Youngsters enjoy a dip in Speedy’s Stream in Pareraho Forest, Kelson, earlier this year. The stream starts within the Belmont Regional Park and environmentalists have questioned the use of poisons near waterways in the park.

Aerial spraying for farming in the Belmont Regional Park, potentially resulting in poison entering waterways, has been halted.

Part of the regional park, between Porirua and Lower Hutt, has been farmed for decades and both the current licensee, Dion Kilmister, and previous owner Landcorp, used helicopters to spray gorse.

In a written statement, parks manager Jimmy Young said the spraying was carried out by the farmer under an agreement he had with the council, but spraying could no longer be justified for farming purposes.

“We’re undergoing a transformation in which farming will ultimately be abandoned in favour of regenerating native forest and returning land to its natural state,” he said.

* Queen Elizabeth Park's northeast to go from gorse-stricken to native paradise

* Whitebait species make a comeback at Tawharanui Open Sanctuary

* Regional council apologises for aerial spraying park on Labour Day

German tourists swimming in the waterfall at Dry Creek Valley, Belmont Regional Park, in 2017. (File photo)

However, Greater Wellington did not rule out aerial spraying itself for restoration purposes, if deemed the best method. It also didn’t rule out continuing to use herbicide metsulfuron to control gorse.

Freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy said the regional council show never have allowed the use of metsulfuron, which he said was potentially harmful to native freshwater species and should always be kept out of waterways.

“It is absolutely the regional council’s responsibility to make sure the farmer is not doing something that is harmful.”

The decision to stop spraying came after the Pareraho Forest Trust questioned whether appropriate measures were in place to make sure the poison was not getting into streams.

Trust convenor Quentin Duthie said local environmentalists had long argued that using poison in a regional park, popular with walkers and mountain bikers, was not appropriate.

Data tracking the helicopter flightpath, showed it was criss-crossing waterways, he said.

It was also clear that remnant native plants were accidently being sprayed.

The Belmont Regional Park has long been popular with mountain bikers. Parts of the park are closed during lambing and calving season, although the legality of closing the regional park has been questioned.

Greater Wellington did not monitor the health of the waterways but, anecdotally, freshwater fish and koura were less abundant than would be expected, Duthie said.

Duthie, who was until recently convenor of the Friends of Belmont Regional Park, said spraying the gorse always seemed counter-productive as the long term aim of the regional council was to restore the natural ecology of the park.

Gorse acted as a “nursery” to native plants and in the long term was the best way to encourage natives, he said.

Joy, who works at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University, said the regional council should be leading the way in reducing the use of toxic sprays, especially near waterways.

Streams in the park drained into the Hutt River/Te Awa Kairangi, which fed the aquifer that supplied Wellington’s drinking water.

Ending spraying was not the only victory achieved by the trust with the leaseholder and Greater Wellington also agreeing to change the rules around restricting access during the lambing and calving seasons.

The trust questioned the legality of closing 1000 hectares of the 3000ha regional park during lambing and calving.

Young said Greater Wellington had negotiated a trial with the farmer which gave park users far more access during calving and lambing.

Duthie said it was a major victory for park users as spring was the best time to enjoy the park.

Kilmister supported both the move away from helicopter spraying and to reduce the time the park was closed for lambing and calving. His lease expired shortly and he said with the regional council intending to restore the native ecology, stopping spraying to control gorse was the right thing to do.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said aerial spraying and the use of metsulfuron had been banned. While the farmer can no longer conduct aerial spraying, Greater Wellington may continue to do so. (Amended August 24, 2022, at 5.52pm)