Van Dyks fined for bulldozing gorse

Silver Fern Irene van Dyk and her husband have been fined for illegally removing gorse at their Upper Hutt property, leaving State Highway 2 vulnerable to slips.

Van Dyk and husband Antonie Christoffel (Christie) van Dyk have been served with a series of abatement notices, fined $750 for breaching an abatement, and have been ordered to do remedial work.

The notices came after they were reported for clearing more than 2.5 hectares of gorse from their SH2 property in Kaitoke on November 4. Bulldozers were seen being used for the clearing.

A report to the Greater Wellington regional council said the work had caused "significant soil disturbance on erosion-prone land, discharges of land to two watercourses on the property and deposition in the beds of those streams".

Environmental regulation manager Al Cross said the work had made the land prone to slips because there was no longer any vegetation holding the soil in place, putting SH2 at risk because of the property's proximity to the road.

SH2 is the main road between the Wairarapa and Wellington.

Investigations were ongoing, and further enforcement – including court action – could be taken, Mr Cross said.

"We're still looking into the nature of what actually happened there, and whether we had a breach of our regional plans."

The van Dyks declined to comment while the matter was under investigation.

Among the issues being investigated was the level of damage to two waterways, which had been filled in by the earthworks, Mr Cross said. Tree stumps were also dumped in the streams, he said.

The van Dyks had been ordered to come up with a plan to restore the streams, and to create sediment and erosion control for the hillside.

Forest & Bird lower North Island field officer Aalbert Rebergen said he had noticed the work being done a few months ago and was amazed someone would clear such a steep hill.

The work was likely to send more sediment into the streams, affecting the fish and invertebrates that lived in the water, he said.

But he was more concerned with the risk to the road from slips. "The main issue is safety and common sense."

The gorse clearing is one of 352 environmental incidents reported to the regional council between October 30 and February 19 – and one of two considered "significant".

Mr Cross said that was because of the "scale of the vegetation removal and the method that was used was one that disturbed a lot of soil".

Of the 352 incidents, the largest areas of complaint were odour and liquid waste disposal.

There were 13 advisory, six infringement and 47 abatement notices served. Six prosecutions were laid.

- © Fairfax NZ News