Pegasus Post: September 10, 2019

PEGASUS POST Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Tuesday September 10 2019 11
Feral pigs hogging Bottle Lake
• By Sophie Cornish
THIS IS what you may come
across on a weekend stroll in
Bottle Lake Forest.
This photo of a feral pig
was posted to the People’s
Independent Republic of
New Brighton Facebook page
along with a discussion about
sightings of the animal in the
10km recreation reserve, which
stretches from Burwood to the
coast.
But before you squeal – city
council head of parks Andrew
Rutledge is reassuring the threat
to people is low.
However, they should be
avoided if spotted, he said.
No reports have been received
by city council of the animals
attacking, but they are a
nuisance.
“Feral pigs are a threat to sites
with high biodiversity values,
as they can damage indigenous
plants and animals. In this case
they are mostly a nuisance to the
landowners in the area, where
they roam between properties,”
he said.
The pigs have been present in
the Lower Styx area, including
Bottle Lake Forest for some time,
Mr Rutledge said.
“They are very mobile animals
and can cover large distances,
moving across private and
publicly-owned land.”
Kainga resident Zac Cooper
frequently runs around the forest
with his dog and said he has
spotted the nuisance animals on
multiple occasions.
“It was a few months back now
. . . one was down by the Waimak
River, in the forest alongside
the river’s edge. Another was
just up by Spencerville . . . my
friend’s neighbour has trapped
and killed a few, so he put one up
on the barbeque one afternoon
. . . apparently, the sightings are
getting much more frequent,” he
said.
Mr Rutledge said the pigs have
been factored into the parks’ pest
control programme.
SPOTTED:
A feral pig
in Bottle
Lake
Forest,
which city
council
staff say
are a low
threat to
people,
but
should be
avoided.
“Monitoring is in place for
when these animals roam on
to council reserves . . . it’s very
hard to determine population
numbers as the animals cover a
large area.”
The feral pigs, which are
omnivorous, are believed to be
widespread throughout the Canterbury
region in suitable habitat
types. In May, wild sows, a type
of feral pig, were caught on camera
in a native bush reserve, near
Gibraltar Rock in the Port Hills.
The Summit Road Society
said the pigs were becoming
a problem with their
rooting habits damaging the
undergrowth of the native forest.
Old Skellerup factory
demolition under way
• By Jess Gibson
A LARGE portion of the
remaining abandoned Skellerup
factory is being demolished at its
former Woolston site.
The BL Family Trust own
the 59,801 sq m section of land
on Garlands Rd and is in the
process of clearing more than
70 per cent of the earthquakedamaged,
asbestos-filled
buildings.
Skellerup moved out in 2016
to a new $60 million premises
in Wigram. It sold the Woolston
site ‘as is where is’.
BL Family Trust representative
Vipan Garg said the demolition
is taking place in order to clean
up the “eyesore” which is derelict
and attracting vandals.
“It was a problem within the
community. People were getting
into the buildings, as they were
left unattended.”
National Steel, the main site
occupant, processes and sorts
metal on the empty land and
will continue to use one building
as a “hub” which has been
deemed safe by an engineer.
Fair Auto Dismantlers, Lowe
Industries and NZ Besthome
Furniture also occupy the shedlike
buildings on the site, which
have been assessed as safe.
CLEAN-UP: More than 70 per
cent of the derelict buildings
at the former Skellerup
factory site in Woolston
are being knocked down.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
The BL Family Trust has
applied for a proposed boundary
adjustment to three main lots
on the site and wants it to be
processed by the city council.
However, demolition project
manager Jarrad Smith said there
are no plans to sell or develop
the area at this stage.
He said the purpose of the
boundary adjustment is to
square off the land into three
clear parcels. “Potentially at
some point, something will
happen with the site. What that
is and when that is hasn’t been
determined,”Mr Smith said.
The demolition may take up to
a year and the materials will be
dumped at Kate Valley landfill.
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