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Kia ora and welcome to our February issue!
It’s a busy old month — our intensive winter grazing workshops are underway, our spy wallabies have been undercover on your council’s secret service, and we’re gearing up for the Wānaka A&P Show. Read on …
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Live and let die
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A spy wallaby is released by Boffa Miskell project manager Brent Barrett
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We released 10 collared and neutered ‘spy’ wallabies at locations in Waitaki and Mackenzie districts last year. We have been monitoring them via GPS and carried out the first hunt recently with some interesting results.
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9 of 10 wallabies were located and the surrounds searched for others
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19 ‘other’ wallabies were found and shot
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The 10th spy wallaby had travelled 42 km from the drop-off spot — all the way from Canterbury into Otago — and it’s still moving, which shows just how far they roam, and how fast they can spread.
Dr No wallaby
They might look cute, but there’s nothing cute about the damage wallabies do to New Zealand’s native bush. Check out this photo from the Bay of Plenty:
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What a difference a fence makes: wallaby damage, left, versus no wallaby
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Seen a wallaby? Report it! Hunters, please report your kills: reportwallabies.nz
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New strategy to guide Dunedin’s development
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Consultation on Dunedin’s draft Future Development Strategy is now open and will run until 28 February.
The Future Development Strategy (FDS) will guide how the city grows over the next 30 years and identify the infrastructure we need to support that growth. The draft Future Development Strategy has been developed in partnership with DCC and mana whenua with support from Waka Kotahi and Kāinga Ora.
View the draft online here or at the DCC Civic Centre, libraries or the ORC office on level 2, Philip Laing House, Rattray Street, and have your say.
Research will help Dunedin adapt to climate change
Our science is helping forecast the impact of rising groundwater beneath South Dunedin and Harbourside, and what this could mean for the future. A partnership with GNS, the groundwater study — based on four years of data — provides a detailed picture of where issues might arise, helps councils and locals alike understand how hazards will evolve, and enables future planning. The findings will inform the South Dunedin Future programme. You can find out more here.
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Dr Jean-Luc Payan (ORC) and Dr Simon Cox (GNS) with South Dunedin in the background
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Lifelong learners
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CODC and QLDC teachers connecting the Enviroschools kaupapa to Te Mātaiaho (the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum)
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Not only do students thrive with Enviroschools, but teachers develop their knowledge and skills as well.
In 2023 we ran a teacher hui looking at how to teach about the changing climate. Another hui focused on linking sustainability and the Enviroschools kaupapa in the curriculum, with some really practical stuff, such as making your own glue paste so schools have an alternative to glue sticks.
We held cluster meetings where teachers got to see what was happening at other schools. And we hosted the Waitaki and Clutha principals for breakfast so they could share what is working in their schools and how they support their staff and students to create the changes needed to become more sustainable.
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Live on the Taieri or nearby?
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Come and chat with our staff about our recent flood scheme report and what it might mean for landowners at one of our community drop-in sessions.
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Mosgiel session
Tuesday, 5 March
5.30-7.30pm
Coronation Hall,
Mosgiel
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Outram session
Tuesday, 5 March
11.30am-2.30pm
West Taieri Rugby Club,
Outram
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ORC ABC
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P is for … periphyton and phytoplankton.
Periphyton and phytoplankton include aquatic plants, algae, and bacteria.
Periphyton live attached to underwater surfaces such as rocks and forms the slippery layers you might encounter on rocks when you go swimming.
Periphyton is an important food source for fish and invertebrates, but can cause nuisance algae blooms when concentrations of nutrients (i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus) are too high.
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Rocks feel slimy underfoot? It’s likely periphyton.
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Phytoplankton float freely in lakes or reservoirs. Some phytoplankton occur in such large amounts that they cause blooms which can give the lake a ‘pea soup’ appearance. There are more than 25,000 different species around the world.
There are more phytoplankton cells in our ocean, rivers and lakes than there are stars in the sky, and all phytoplankton together are responsible for half the oxygen we breathe. So, pretty dang important!
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Five types of phytoplankton
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Pest of the month: old man’s beard
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February’s pest of the month is … old man’s beard.
Old man’s beard is a threat to Otago’s biodiversity, as it smothers native plants and trees, spreads easily and grows quickly — a stem can produce up to 10 metres of growth in a single season!
Old man’s beard flowers during summer, so it is an ideal time to identify this pest. In autumn, the flowers give way to pom-pom shaped, fluffy seed heads — making it look like an old man’s beard.
Make sure you don’t confuse old man's beard with native clematis. The natives usually have only three leaflets per stem (old man’s beard has five) and flower in spring (old man’s beard flowers in summer).
Visit our Pest Hub for more information about old man's beard and how to identify and remove this sneaky vine from your garden once and for all!
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Consents completed on the spot!
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We’re holding 14 intensive winter grazing (IWG) workshops this month, all over the place.
Unsure of how to put an intensive winter grazing resource consent together? Come along — you should be able to complete your consent applications on the spot. The workshops are also for farmers to update their existing consent management plans.
Lawrence — Thursday, 29 February
Simpson Park Hall (Lawrence), one workshop: 10am–12pm
Millers Flat — Thursday, 29 February
Millers Flat Hall, one workshop: 1.30–3.30pm
Ōwaka — Tuesday, 5 March
Ōwaka Community Centre, one workshop: 10am–12pm
Clinton — Tuesday, 5 March
Clinton Community Centre, one workshop: 1.30–3.30pm
Milton — Tuesday, 12 March
Tokomairiro Rugby Club, two workshops: 10am–12pm and 1–3pm
Tapanui — Tuesday, 19 March
West Otago Community Centre, two workshops: 10am–12pm and 1–3pm
Middlemarch — Wednesday, 27 March
Strath Taieri Community Centre (Middlemarch), one workshop: 10am–12pm
Ranfurly — Wednesday, 27 March
Maniototo Golf Club (Ranfurly), one workshop: 1.30–3.30pm
What to bring:
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Whole farm map
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Individual paddock maps of forage crops for 2024
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Any existing relevant farm plans, grazing management plans and information on soils and slope, i.e. from consultants, Beef+Lamb, DairyNZ, NZFAP, etc. (not needed, but if you have this information already, it may be useful).
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Existing IWG consents (if you already have some)
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For further information, contact consent.enquiries@orc.govt.nz, catchments@orc.govt.nz or 0800 474 082.
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What’s a Long-Term Plan?
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A Long-Term Plan (LTP) is a key planning tool for councils. Our LTP shows the work we do and the outcomes we expect from that work, as well as how much we expect it to cost.
We look at the work we have planned and the community outcomes we want to achieve — strong and resilient communities, partnering with mana whenua, protecting our environment, addressing climate change and providing public transport.
In early April, a special issue of our newsletter, Te Mātāpuna | The Source, will be sent to Otago residents. It will highlight some of the things Council is proposing in the draft Long-Term Plan and outline different ways you can have your say.
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It’s electrifying!
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From left: Andrew Noone — ORC Councillor and co-chair of ORC Public and Active Transport Committee, Richard Saunders — ORC Chief Executive, Michele Kernahan — CEO of Ritchies, Amish Vallabh — Director of Commercial Ritchies Transport, and Helena Lee — JW Group (which supplied the buses).
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Dunedin’s first electric buses (e-buses) are on the streets this month.
Eleven buses have come into service, and their addition to the fleet will reduce fuel consumption by nearly 240,000 litres of diesel per year, which will help improve air quality in Dunedin.
The e-buses will also contribute towards the city’s 2030 zero carbon goals — 648,000 km of the 4.5 million km travelled by the Orbus fleet each year will now be zero emission.
No worries in Dunedin winters either, as the new buses operate well in cold weather and start in sub-zero temperatures.
The first e-buses will operate on hill routes, including Routes 5 and 6, which serve Pine Hill and Calton Hill, Routes 10 and 11, which serve Opoho and Shiel Hill and Route 15, the Ridge Runner, which links the University to South Dunedin via Mornington.
Additional e-buses will be coming into service as contracts are renewed in both Dunedin and Queenstown, with the aim to be 100% zero emission by 2028.
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Who do we love?
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Showing off some of their ‘library’ of hundreds of traps are (back row, from left) Sally Van Dyk, Rodger Anderson, Jennifer Orsi, Elaine Slater and Robyn Lynn; (front row, from left) Don Hunter, Bruce Lynds, Taieri Mouth Amenities Society president Jocelyn Lindner and Dave Alden. Photo: ODT
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One of the recipients of last year’s ECO Fund were the Taieri Mouth Amenities Society (TMAS), a wonderful group who used the grant to put some action behind their pest control project.
We have more money available this year for community groups who want to improve their local environment (up to $900,000!) — ECO Fund applications open 1 March.
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Meet us at the Wānaka show!
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Staff and councillors chatted to hundreds of people at last year’s show. Pictured are (from left) Team Leader Environmental Monitoring Susan Wells and councillors Kevin Malcolm and Elliot Weir.
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Come and meet us at the Wānaka A&P Show on 8 and 9 March!
Chat to staff and councillors and meet a bit of a star in the pest control world …Toby, a fully certified detector dog. Trained to find wallaby scat, he’s worked in both the North and South Island, a number of kiwi zones, and on predator-free islands surrounding New Zealand.
Toby’s initial training took 18 months and included two assessments that he had to pass in order to become fully certified. His conservation dog programme certification is for both the indication of feral cats and their scat, and wallaby scat. He is the only dog in New Zealand with both certifications, and the only dog in the South Island with a wallaby scat certification.
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Ball? Toby has been trained to indicate the scat using a passive indication, which means he lays down and points his nose to where the scat is … then gets a tennis ball as his reward.
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Find out about upcoming community events and Council meetings here.
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Feel free to forward this email to anyone who might like to read it. If you have any story ideas or want to know anything specific about anything in this issue, let us know by emailing lisa.scott@orc.govt.nz.
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