Update 5: 29 July 2021

Following the community workshops held in March and April, Environment Canterbury’s biosecurity team have been working towards the implementation of several new approaches in the nassella control programme, including encouraging land occupiers to undertake their control work earlier in the year, and for Environment Canterbury to adapt its communication approach with land occupiers affected by nassella tussock and other pests.

Since the workshops were held, Environment Canterbury’s main area of focus has been enabling land occupiers to complete nassella control earlier in the year, if possible.

• An email was sent to nassella-affected properties, specifically outlining that they can request an early inspection, and
• Land occupiers have been contacted directly by biosecurity officers to ascertain if they would be willing to have an early inspection, and when that might be.

Rationale for land occupiers to complete their control programme earlier in the year:

• While the current compliance dates remain the same (30 September for most of the region, and 31 October for high density properties in Hurunui), it may benefit land occupiers to undertake this work at a different time of year. This will also enable Environment Canterbury to focus on emerging threats, such as Chilean needle grass, reducing the chance of other pests becoming an issue for land occupiers.
• We know that contractors showing up on time has been an issue for a number of land occupiers. By spreading your control work throughout the year, this also spreads the workload for your contractors. It will also enable you to work around on-farm activities such as lambing, which can clash with compliance dates in some areas.
• Land occupiers who complete their control work and are inspected prior to 20 September 2021 will be eligible for a free additional inspection, should they initially fail to meet the requirements of the rules. It is important to note that if you are inspected early and pass, then that is a pass for the year (and there won’t be a need for Environment Canterbury to inspect again). Any decision made will stand until the next year’s inspection, regardless of what an officer may see if they’re on the property for another purpose on another date.

If you would like to complete your control work early and have an early inspection, please contact Environment Canterbury on 0800 324 636 or email Biosecurity@ecan.govt.nz

The biosecurity team will continue to work with land occupiers to encourage and implement early nassella control work and inspections. In addition, the following recommendations from the workshops will also be implemented by Environment Canterbury:

• Having one biosecurity officer that land occupiers can communicate and build a relationship with i.e. assigning officers to geographic areas
• Continue to work on culture and associated training for biosecurity officers including how to communicate effectively with the rural community, particularly when discussing rules and regulations
• Evaluating biosecurity officer inspections to ensure the rules are applied consistently.

Environment Canterbury will continue to keep you updated as these items progress. Further updates will also be coming out shortly via the Nassella News and nassella management forums.

You can expect to see an increase in communication and transparency regarding nassella tussock going forward.

Thanks again to all who volunteered their time to attend the workshops, and we hope to gain more feedback from you once these changes are put in place.