Hunters gather record haul

Conservation Order

An Environment Court report has recommended that a Water Conservation Order (WCO) be issued to safeguard water quality at Wakoropupū Springs and associated water bodies.

The report, issued on 28 July, marks a major milestone in a decade-long saga that has included two separate applications, a Special Tribunal and an Environment Court Hearing.

The applicant – Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust and Golden Bay resident Andrew Yuill – initially applied for a WCO in December 2013. That application was put on hold and the applicants were encouraged to further engage with Tasman District Council. The subsequent application, made in April 2017, was heard the following year by a Special Tribunal which, in 2020, recommended that the WCO be made. The matter then went to the Environment Court and, after four hearing sessions of two-five days held between May 2022 and April this year, Judge John Hassan has now issued his 314-page report to the Minister of Environment, supporting the Special Tribunal’s recommendations with modifications.

Based on extensive evidential findings and determinations, the report prescribes water quality standards for Main Spring and Fish Creek Springs, as well as placing responsibilities and duties on TDC to monitor and control through resource consents, permits and cease-take orders in the Wharepapa Arthur Marble Aquifer Recharge Area (WAMARA) – part of the Tākaka River catchment from which surface and ground water drains or percolates into underlying gravel and marble formations.

A bluebird weekend yielded record entries and results for the 26th annual Upper Tākaka Pig Hunt.

Locals and visitors (including one on horseback) gathered at the Upper Tākaka Country Club on Sunday to enjoy the sun, view the weigh-in and prizegiving – and have a few quiet beers.

The hunt is organised by locals and keen hunters Jonny Harwood, Cindy Rosser, and Amanda Brooks. Says Jonny of the record haul, “I have a feeling it must have been a good breeding season a couple years ago – as [this and 39 children. The weather provided great hunting conditions.”

When The GB Weekly arrived mid-afternoon, it was standing room only at the weigh station, with “weigh masters” Geoff Trewavas and Duncan McKenzie working like Trojans to keep pace with the flow of large game entries, while Greg Reeve was weighing and counting possums, hares, and goats.

Inside the clubrooms there was an impressive range of prizes. “It’s all donated from the local community and from over the Hill,” says Cindy. “Every child entered receives a prize.”

Hunters are free to hunt in whichever geography they choose over the course of the competition, resulting in competitors targeting hunting grounds across the top of the South Island.

Sisters Tasmin and Riley Nelson-Knauf spent the weekend in Marlborough, catching a total of five pigs. “The best part was getting to the hut at the end of a hard day,” says Riley.

Mother-and-son team, Wendy Brooks and Kyle Gardiner, took out the Largest Red Stag Trophy for the second year running, “From our secret location near Murchison". Wendy shot the 105kg stag early on Sunday morning and was grateful to have son Kyle to help with the heavy lifting. “It was good Kyle was there, as I could never have fitted [the deer] in my tiny Corolla hatchback,” she jokes. Wendy’s achievement is all the more impressive as this is only her second season hunting. “I’m a little bit addicted,” she says with a grin.

Jonny kicked off the prizegiving with a speech and facilitated crowd control with...

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The key water quality standards specified in the report are water clarity, along with concentrations of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), dissolved oxygen (DO) and dissolved nitrate (measured as NO3-N). The parameter that has probably been discussed more than any other during the protracted, formal process is nitrate. The concentration upper limit, measured at Main Spring and Fish Creek Springs, is initially set at 0.44mg/l, but reduces to 0.41mg/l from 1 January 2038. The report justifies these figures, explaining that “any higher limit would place the undisputed outstanding values of Te Waikoropupū at an unacceptable level of risk”.

The report also makes it clear that it is TDC’s duty to ensure these limits are complied with, although it may choose to...

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