Discretionary pastoral activity decision - Clearing scrub - A5321196

For this decision summary:

• LINZ received the application before 17 November 2022
• the decision was made under the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 before the amendments taking effect on 17 November 2022.

Clearing scrub

15 years (with maintenance rights)

The Commissioner has determined that the proposed clearing has positive farming benefits and the conditions will enable any adverse effects to be avoided, remedied or mitigated. Benefits include the removal of exotic weeds which reduce the amount of land available for grazing and that are providing shelter to rabbits. Ongoing control of exotic woody weeds will also be of benefit to the inherent values, particularly indigenous vegetation, by removing competition. The term of consent is ongoing from the date of this decision to enable the lessee to control the targeted pest weed species identified as and when required. This is because the extent of the area needing control is very large and therefore not all areas will be controlled at one time and will require active management to ensure spread is reduced.

Consent is granted for clearing of scrub, subject to the following conditions:

1. Scrub clearance will only occur within the areas and by the methods indicated as being approved as shown on the map attached.
2. Scrub clearance/spraying is only targeted at exotic woody weeds, these being briar, elderflower, old man’s beard, blackberry, gorse, broom and wilding conifers. No indigenous vegetation shall be specifically targeting by spraying.
3. Appropriate control methods include ground control hand methods (e.g. hand pulling, cutting and pasting, knapsack spraying and gun and hose) and aerial spot spraying by helicopter. Aerial boom/blanket spraying shall only be utilised where there is minimal risk to native vegetation, although it is acknowledged that the occasional individual native plant may be accidentally sprayed and killed during spraying operations.
4. For the areas identified by brown hatching in the map attached, only plant specific control methods will be utilised for the control of exotic woody weeds e.g. cutting and stump pasting with a herbicide. Any method that might result in non-target vegetation being killed is not permitted.
5. No aerial blanket spraying shall occur within 10m of any waterway or within 10m of any of the areas identified in brown hatching on the map attached.
6. No herbicide spraying shall be undertaken in windy conditions.
7. The Lessee shall ensure that the GPS records from any helicopter spraying, showing where herbicide has been applied, are retained for at least 5 years after the spraying has occurred and supply these records to the Commissioner upon request. The helicopter company and pilot carrying out the spraying must hold the relevant qualifications/ratings for applying agrichemicals.
8. Any equipment or machinery used for the clearing shall be cleaned of any soil or plant material at a location off Glencairn Station prior to carrying out the clearing.
9. That all contractors and employees working on Glencairn Station in relation to this consent are informed of the conditions of this consent prior to works starting.

The Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 provides that permission to undertake the activity may still be needed under other enactments.