Nelson Tasman's updated pest plan will keep the focus on managing feral cats to a few specific sites despite councillors' eagerness for stronger controls.
The review of the region's pest management plan allows for the control of feral and stray cats, and of several species of wilding pines.
The control of pest cats will be limited to select sites in the Abel Tasman National Park, around the town of St Arnaud, around the Waimea Inlet, and in high-value sites in Nelson City.
Nelson councillor Rachel Sanson questioned why there weren't additional sites in areas like the Waimea Inlet, Motueka Valley, Golden Bay, and Cable Bay slated for control of feral cats.
"Being that we are in a state of biodiversity collapse. I just want to make sure that we are really considering these other areas."
Nelson councillor Matthew Benge and Tasman councillor Mike Kininmonth also expressed frustration at the lack of penalties for irresponsible cat owners within the plan.
"Is there no consequence?" Benge asked. "Because if there isn't, we haven't achieved anything."
Nelson councillor Aaron Stallard advocated for a stronger approach to holding pine plantation owners liable for the spread of wilding pines onto neighbouring properties where pine control was being undertaken.
The plan limits the plantations' liability to July 2024 onwards.
"The rule is severely hamstrung by the fact we're not addressing legacy pines," he said.
Tasman councillor Celia Butler, chair of the Regional Pest Management Joint Committee, however reminded councillors that the changes to the pest management plan were required to undergo a cost-benefit analysis.
Controlling feral cats and wilding pines across a larger area or for by applying rules retroactively would make pest management far more costly.
"We've got to limit it somewhere, from a pragmatic point of view, for what's doable and remembering the cost-benefit analysis required."
Rob Smith, Tasman District Council's acting group manager for information, science, and technology, added that the updated plan was about getting "on the pathway" towards better pest management.
"It is a learning opportunity for us and the community, and for the next few years, the operation of these new rules will essentially be reported against," he said.
"So that when we come back in 2029 to re-do the regional pest management plan, we can learn on that as well. We will get better, this is our first stab."
Speaking to concerns of the councillors more directly, Smith added that the new feral and stray cat rules would enable pest control groups at the identified locations to better protect those high-value areas.
The pest management plan would also work "hand-in-hand" with the cat bylaws that each council was developing, and that cats were also controlled to some degree by other laws, such as the Animal Welfare Act and the Wildlife Act.
As for wilding pines, Smith acknowledged the current rules weren't the "endgame" for their control but were encouraging positive management going forward with the support of the community and plantation owners.
Councillors then voted to recommend that the region's two councils adopt the updated plan at the end of the committee's meeting on Thursday.
"Our region is definitely going to be the better for this outcome," Sanson said.
Regional pest management will be reviewed again from about 2027 in preparation for a 2029 plan which could have greater scope than the current version.
Local Democracy Reporting is local-body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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