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Grazing stock on Auckland's volcanic cones to be phased out

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Excellent comments from farmer Peter Maxwell, some need to take note of his commonsense expertise.

Some of these bunnies who are making these decisions need to go back to school and educate themselves.

First the allegation without factual Roading engineers reports that vehicles are causing damage, now cattle in their sights, what b/s will come out next?

These are volcanic cones that have been in existence for donkeys years well prior to anyone claiming ownership rights as a result of shells etc been dumped on and kumara pits which are simply the natural remains of how these volcanos first formed.

 

Looking forward to hearing the excuses spun out in Courts of law on this most recent disclosure.

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/87822442/grazing-stock-on-aucklands-volcanic-cones-to-be-phased-out

Grazing stock on Auckland's volcanic cones to be phased out

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Sheep adorning One Tree Hill and Auckland's other volcanic cones will one day be a thing of the past.
SUPPLIED

Sheep adorning One Tree Hill and Auckland's other volcanic cones will one day be a thing of the past.

 

The days of livestock grazing on Auckland's volcanoes are numbered as authorities seek to restore biodiversity on the maunga.

Cattle and sheep grazing on Auckland maunga (volcanic summits) have been a familiar sight for decades.

But their days are numbered with Auckland's Maunga Authority planning to remove livestock to protect and restore biodiversity.

Sheep dotted across the landscape had been an image synonymous with One Tree Hill.
JOHN SELKIRK/FAIRFAX NZ

Sheep dotted across the landscape had been an image synonymous with One Tree Hill.

 

Three maunga are grazed by cattle including Mt Wellington/Maungarei, Mt Richmond/Otahuhu and Mangere Mountain and two by sheep including One Tree Hill/Maungakiekie and Mt St John/Te Kopuke.

READ MORE
* Safety, community calls prompt vehicle band for more Auckland summits
* Mt Eden tea kiosk to open as cafe

Grazing cattle have already been been cleared from Mt Hobson/Ohinerau in Remuera.

Aucklanders flock to One Tree Hill each spring to catch a glimpse of lambs prancing around the volcanic cone.
JOHN SELKIRK/FAIRFAX NZ

Aucklanders flock to One Tree Hill each spring to catch a glimpse of lambs prancing around the volcanic cone.

 

Mother of two and Remuera resident Michelle Noma said it was a great pity if sheep were to be removed from One Tree Hill.

"Our kids love to go there, it's an annual event in spring to see the lambs in an iconic Auckland space".

She said every time family visits from overseas, she takes them to One Tree Hill to experience a farm environment close to the city.

Cornwall Park Trust farm manager Peter Maxwell said it has stock currently grazing on One Tree Hill and Mt St John.

He said the trust has not had any formal notification that grazing will end on One Tree Hill.

Maxwell said the farm would like to continue grazing sheep there.

"They keep the long grass tidy and help in controlling the litter by making it easier to spot rubbish that you would not be able to see in long grass".

Stock grazing also reduces fire risk, Maxwell said.

"There is a long standing lease between the Cornwall Park Trust and Auckland Council for grazing and our relationship with the Maunga Authority is very important to us," Maxwell said.

In 2014 14 ancestral cones were returned to the Tupuna Maunga o Tamaki Makaurau Authority (Maunga Authority), to be held in trust for the benefit of all Aucklanders.

The authority is made up of representatives from Ngā Mana Whenua o Tamaki Makaurau and Auckland Council, together with Crown (non-voting) representation.

In November it was announced five volcanic cones would be pedestrian and cycle only from 2017; Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill, Maungarei/Mt Wellington, Owairaka/Mt Albert, Puketapapa/Mt Roskill, Takarunga/Mt Victoria and  Maungawhau/Mt Eden.

Tupuna Maunga manager Scott De Silva said the Tupuna Maunga Integrated Management Plan (IMP), which was publicly notified early in 2016, includes an objective to protect and restore the biodiversity of the ancestral mountains.

He said under that objective, the intention was to phase out grazing stock and reintroduce native species, including microorganisms, invertebrates, lizards, and birds.

"These contribute to resilient and healthy ecosystems," De Silva said.

De Silva said there was no set programme for the removal of stock from maunga and no deadline had been set for all stock being removed.

Stock caused damage to archaeological features including historic kumara pits, one of the last and few remaining traces of Maori occupation pre-European settlement, De Silva said.

Orakei Local Board member and member of the Maunga Authority Kit Parkinson said the authority provides a strong road map for ensuring Auckland's maunga are preserved for future generations.

 - Stuff.co.nz

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Rabbit Haven War Zone on Mt Hobson, Remuera, Auckland.

Yes folks this is what you don't see when you drive along the motorway near near the Market road, Remuera, turnoff and where our first Governor General Captain William Hobson has a Volcanic Cone named after him.

 

They rabbits have taken over and it's all due to the "clumsy management and guardianship" and those connected to The Maunga Authority.

 

A number of trees that have been planted over the years on this side have been destroyed as a result of the rabbits taken over since the removal of the innocent Livestock.

 

Incidentally The Auckland Volcanic Cones society are pushing for all Auckland Volcanic Cones to be recognized under UNESCO World Heritage as Maori Pa sites when they were never Pa sites to begin with.

 

They were also advised, by there own Legal Advisor to ensure the retention of the livestock and failed to follow their Counsel's instructions who advised them there would be "Consequences"

 

 

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Sad state of affairs on Mt Eden summit.

How many of you ever recall it in such a mess?

And a fire risk?

Friends of Maungawhau have a lot to answer for, as do The Maunga Authority and the Auckland Volcanic Society who have been instrumental and working hand in glove with the iwi in this current nonsense the wider community is subject to on all people's public Domains/ Reserves.

Not been able to walk or run or play on these places, including up and down Mt Eden Crater and other volcanic cones explains a lot about why we have some races with high obesity rates and other health problems that cost us public funds.

Commonsense prevails, return our cows and sheep where they have lived and kept the grass maintained, provided enjoyment and a tourist attraction for over 180 years.

 

https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/328554/

 

 

 

 

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From 2001!!!

Has anyone seen or read this 1999 "report" and know who wrote it??

Maybe it's time they were brought before the Courts of Laws to back it up with real evidence and stop blaming cars, cows and people for so called damage to volcanic cones that are Domains and public places.

Damage drives cattle off Mt Eden's cone

9:21 PM Wednesday Apr 11, 2001
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By PHILIP ENGLISH

Cattle destroying archaeological sites and causing erosion on Mt Eden will be removed this winter, but the mountain and Auckland's other volcanic features still face threats.

The Auckland City Council is being applauded for the steps it is taking to restore the summit of Mt Eden, which is visited by more than one million people a year.

Work on the summit to prevent further damage by tourists trampling the site, mountain bikers and grazing is being treated as urgent.

But there have been signals for years that the mountain was under pressure.

Following a report in 1999 on ways of protecting and enhancing the mountain, also known as Maungawhau, the council decided that remedial work on the summit was a priority.

Even before that, Auckland archaeologist Dr Susan Bulmer was calling for cattle to be removed from the mountain's slopes.

"We were trying to get the cows off way back in Mt Eden Borough Council days ... Nobody previously has really seriously listened and now they are. It's because they can see for themselves what damage has been done."

She said grazing was a solution to managing pasture on the mountain but volcanic cones and "raising meat do not go together very well."

Dr Bulmer, a member of the Maungawhau advisory committee, said the mountain was also under pressure from people and it might be time to consider whether tourist buses should continue to be allowed to the summit.

"We have a conflict between tourism and local use. We need to face this. We can't say that everybody can use it always and anyway they like because it is making a mess of things and that mess is going to get worse.

"People do not realise how amazing Mt Eden is. It is one of the great monuments of the pre-industrial world. It is fabulous. Like Stonehenge, it attracts people. But the public has had to be excluded from Stonehenge. They have to stand way outside it to see it now because public use has destabilised it."

Dr Bulmer said a way had to be found to cope with the problem on Mt Eden.

Cattle also graze on other volcanic cones in Auckland and have been grazing on the Otuataua stonefields at Mangere, recently opened to the public as a historic reserve.

There are few practical alternatives to cattle grazing to manage pasture on the cones, particularly if the pasture is kikuyu grass, which can threaten archaeological features. Sheep get stolen or mauled by dogs. Maintaining an army of weedeaters to keep grass down over hundreds of hectares would be costly.

One option might be to plant native grasses or other shrubby plants on the cones to discourage damage in sensitive areas.

The Auckland City Council plan for the summit of Mt Eden includes protecting the car park margins from further erosion and repairing the crater rim and crater access tracks.

The council has put aside $100,000 for the work, which will be subject to consultation with iwi and local groups. It will seek a resource consent for the work.

"There is absolute urgency," said Bill Christian, chairman of the council parks and recreation committee.

Meanwhile, the Auckland Volcanic Cones Society is continuing to push for the cones and special features of the Auckland volcanic field to be given national reserve status.

* The society is seeking members. It can be contacted on Auckland 522-4495.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=182427

 

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Somehow we don't believe this so called "damage and erosion" was caused by livestock or cars, but indeed it was more than likely to have occurred due to the weather which is natural and just nature.

Livestock wouldn't generally graze on such an incline.

http://blog.maungawhau.co.nz/

Bulmer%2B10.11.2008.jpg

 

It was Sue who in 1978 produced the first archaeological map of Maungawhau, from survey work done by graduate students. Her map was published in the 1986 Management Plan for Maungawhau and is reproduced in our book, Maungawhau: a short history of volunteer action (2014)

 

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Here's where the iwi and The Maunga Authority are leading to, once again, that of as has previously been mentioned, recognition under UNESCO World Heritage status as Maori Pa sites for our Volcanic cones that contain water reservoirs, war time history, planting of trees, flowers and other species where biodiversity has existed together for hundreds of years.

A blanket alcohol ban on all volcanic cones is on the hitlist as well as stuff to do with dogs...

it's important people read The Maunga Authority Draft Plans and minutes from there meetings as they are trying to infringe on other people's rights of access courtesy of Dr Sue Bulmer, Peter Hayne, Greg smith and ilk.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Sue completed a great many archaeological studies and papers on the Māori settlement of Tāmaki Makaurau, including pā sites on the cones, gardens on the volcanic fields, and early historic sites in downtown Auckland. She campaigned for preservation of the Otuataua stonefields and for World Heritage status for the Auckland volcanic cones a decade before DOC took up the cause. In 1981, when the summit carpark on Maungawhau was repaved, Sue carried out the only archaeological excavations that have ever taken place on the mountain. Her passion for Māori history and her recognition of the immense value of the maunga as cultural landscapes was far in advance of the local authority management ethos through those frustrating decades. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Sue's academic and advocacy work, and her connections with Māori historians, led naturally to her gathering together a group of conservationists, colleagues and local citizens to campaign for the maunga's preservation. The Friends of Maungawhau was incorporated in 2002 under a constitution written by Sue.  

 

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Read the fine print in this Draft Plan for 2017-2018, or should that be "Daft" Plan for our local volcanic cones, note how much is budgeted to remove fences, troughs, and to maintain vegetation.

Ohh and note the difference between the photos in the Plan and compare with those in this topic and on the likes of various related Instagram and social media.

 

http://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2017/02/GB_20170209_AGN_6753_AT.htm

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Great feature in the March edition of The Hobson magazine re Mount Hobson, Remuera, Auckland about the shoddy state it is now in.

Those of you who have a copy may like to take a photograph of the article and share it around as it applies equally as much to other "public reserves".

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http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/9035292/Cow-controversy

Cow controversy

 

EMMA WHITTAKER

 
 
 
 
Last updated 05:00 14/08/2013
   
 
 
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Cattle St John
 

MOVE ALONG: Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Maia Ltd heritage and resource management unit senior manager Malcolm Paterson, left, Albert-Eden Local Board chairman Peter Haynes and the heritage unit’s Hana Maihi would like cattle grazing on Mt St John to stop to prevent more erosion like that pictured.

 
 
 

The call is out for cows to be moved off of Mt St John to prevent more damage to the significant archaeological site.

Cattle have long been grazed on the mountain as a way of controlling vegetation and reducing the risk of fire.

Opponents call the practice "shameful mistreatment" and are asking the Auckland Council to not renew a lease which has been rolling over on a month-by-month basis since 1992.

Earlier this year the council announced plans to seek Unesco world heritage status for the city's volcanic field.

Large dips that were once used for storing kumara, terraces dug into the crater, and man-made ridges are all reminders that Mt St John was once a pa.

"Over time, with rain and natural processes, they will blur, fill in and wear away. But what we are doing by just allowing large animals to wander wherever they want is accelerating that process," Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Maia Ltd heritage and resource management unit senior manager Malcolm Paterson says.

"It's a deep irony that we're doing that at the same time we're saying these are going to be world heritage sites. It makes a mockery of it."

There are other options for vegetation control and the mountain doesn't necessarily need to look like a "bowling green", he says.

Cattle were moved off Mt Eden in 2009.

"Officers accept that they degrade these places, which was the basis for taking them off Maungawhau," Albert-Eden Local Board chairman Peter Haynes says.

"Unfortunately, four years after that, it hasn't been used as a template for other places."

He says the board and Maori have made their opposition to cattle grazing well known over the years. But the board believes the council is considering renewing the lease on a more permanent basis.

Mt St John is one of 15 volcanic cones included in a Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the Tamaki Collective and will be co-governed by the Tupuna Maunga o Tamaki Makaurau Authority consisting of Maori, council, and crown representatives.

A bill to allow the handover had its first reading in Parliament at the beginning of the month.

"The council's timing is just bizarre," Mr Haynes says.

Any decision to remove cattle would need to be made in conjunction with the yet to be formed maunga authority, the council's manager of regional and specialist parks Mace Ward says.

Removing the cattle is not an immediate solution, he says.

"Prior to taking any action on this, either to review the licence or remove stock, the council must consider all of the options available, look at the costs and benefits, of each option and consult with stakeholders."

He says stock levels are adjusted depending on the ground conditions and only young, lighter cows are used.

- Central Leader

 

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Some townies need to get into the real world, the shells on these cones and on farmland were more than likely collected from the beach by them and used to mix with the topsoil to stabilize the land to make sure it was usable for pasture and recreation.

 

The carry on about Kumara pits is misleading and they were never on the top of these places, look on Google images 1800's and they were never 1-2 metres in height.

Shoddy research has been done and relied on as "factual"  that is very questionable over the years and needs to be challenged for the benefit of all of us and to put arguments to bed for once and for all.

 

Note the type of clothing etc and you can see how these "pits/ storage sheds etc" have changed in size over the years in accordance with life in general.

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traditional-maori-kumara-pit-on-display-

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It's also a well known fact the winds is ever present up on these volcanic cones so "houses" would never have survived.

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We have heard from an "Authority" that a budget of $25k was given  for the removal of 4 troughs that were in perfectly good order, a heritage fence and a cattle ramp from Mount Hobson that was named after our first Governor General Captain Lieutenant William Hobson.

Claims that the troughs were falling to pieces and crumbling apart & that a "child could drown in them" is a load of b/s and out right lie when concrete evidence exists they weren't.

A hammer, spade, two wheelbarrows and a packet of dope with precise ruler measurements behind it on the dashboard and general Health and Safety non compliances say it all - as per photos.

The troughs in the photos say it all..besides they were there for a very good reason and a part of the people and animals of NZ Cultural Heritage.

 

 Tis overdue those involved with The Maunga Authority were locked up as they have destroyed our Open Spaces that were created from Wastelands for every one betterment.

In general terms, Flow on damage includes suicides and public health, halving of our international floricultural trade as they have ripped out and sprayed our Exotic flowers people used to see and enjoy in Auckland Parks, Domain and Reserves and subsequently purchase in and from NZ, and a shockingly bad impact on tourism and agricultural / horticulture and education.

And why should a small unaccountable group of certain people have permission to dictate to us what we can do on these places without been accountable?

sadly it's the same ones who claim they are disadvantaged with education and there health yet have munted others now to from not learning or accepting others before them contributions.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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