The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council says possum control is still the responsibility of landowners until such time as its programme transitions to professional contractors.
Last December, and following community consultation, the Council voted to amend the Regional Pest Management Plan and to consider funding the use of professional contractors for possum control.
Regional Council spokesperson Mark Mitchell said the move to a contractor model is parked for now, as the Regional Council focuses on cyclone recovery work.
He said the model will likely be considered in the Long Term Plan 2028-2038.
For the time being, Mr Mitchell said landowners are responsible for the control of possums on their land.
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The first round of the Stevenson & Taylor Social T20 Cricket Competition was played last Sunday.
All six teams played at the same time in windy, but fine conditions at CHB College.
Results from the day saw Waipawa Area Cricket Association have a win over Waipukurau.
They were able to chase down Waipukurau’s first innings score of 109 with seven wickets in hand and five overs remaining.
Wallingford was also able to chase down the Argyll Cricket Club’s score of 115 runs with eight wickets in hand and six overs remaining.
The third game saw Onga-Tiko set Sherwood 125 to win.
Sherwood was unable to reach that tally, ending up 12 runs short at the end of the 20th over.
Competition spokesperson Mark Boderick said it was a successful start to the social cricket season.
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The first three rounds of the Hawkes Bay Golf Greenwood Cup competition were played at the Dannevirke Golf Course last weekend.
Hosts Dannevirke started with a 7 1/2 to 2 ½ win over Maraenui. In round 2 they were beaten by Hastings by the same score and in round 3 they lost to Napier 7 to 3.
The Central Hawkes Bay team opened with a narrow 5 1/2 to 4 1/2 loss to Hawkes Bay.
In round 2 they were comprehensively beaten 9-1 by Napier and in round 3 they were beaten by Hastings by 9 1/2 to ½ - their half point coming from Harry Sciascia making his debut at this level.
The other local club Onga Onga had an excellent weekend opening with a 5 1/2 to 4 1/2 win over Hastings, and then soundly defeating Maraenui 8-2, and finishing with an excellent 6 1/2 to 3 1/2 win over Hawkes Bay.
The final four rounds will be played at the Hawkes Bay club on 18/19th of November.
Onga Onga will go in as one of two unbeaten sides along with Napier, chasing that elusive Greenwood Cup.
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The 2023 Hawke’s Bay A & P Show gets underway today.
Some 30,000 people are expected through the gates between today and Friday.