Selwyn Times: October 21, 2020
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
28 <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>October</strong> <strong>21</strong> <strong>2020</strong><br />
SELWYN RURAL LIFE<br />
Lake Ōhau fire: We told you, Feds says<br />
By Tim Fulton<br />
The devastation at Lake Ōhau in South<br />
Canterbury is the kind of fire that high<br />
country farming leader Rob Stokes and his<br />
peers have been warning about.<br />
Stokes, owner of a large high country<br />
drystock farm at Lees Valley, on the north<br />
bank of the Waimakariri, said fire risk<br />
on Department of Conservation (DoC)-<br />
managed land was being mismanaged,<br />
neglected, and needed urgent review.<br />
The fire that destroyed more than 50<br />
homes at Ōhau village on Sunday <strong>October</strong><br />
4th also ripped across 1600 surrounding<br />
hectares of DoC land. Little over a month<br />
before, another fire on DoC property in the<br />
nearby Pukaki Downs area turned about<br />
300ha of trees and scrub to cinder.<br />
Federated Farmers held “grave fears for<br />
many years that locking up high country<br />
land without the proper care is dangerous,”<br />
Stokes said.<br />
The farmer lobby believed the risk would<br />
become even greater with the introduction<br />
of the Government’s new freshwater<br />
policies and livestock destocking as a result<br />
of “unreasonable fencing requirements”.<br />
The Ōhau fire was a red flag for greater risk<br />
of combustible vegetation, he said.<br />
GET YOUR RURAL<br />
BUSINESS NOTICED<br />
When you advertise your rural business in the Rural Life feature<br />
in The <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong>, your ad will reach 20,600 rural and<br />
residential households across the ENTIRE <strong>Selwyn</strong> District.<br />
The <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> is delivered FREE each Wednesday, covering<br />
the latest local news and information with digital editions also<br />
available to view online at www.starnews.co.nz.<br />
CALL Lynette TODAY to discuss how she can help<br />
PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS to local <strong>Selwyn</strong> readers,<br />
or to the entire Canterbury district.<br />
Don’t forget to ask about our “Support Local” packages to<br />
assist the Covid Business recovery. We’re here to help!<br />
Stokes cited another red flag for fire risk:<br />
a 2012 Report of the Independent Fire<br />
Review which said vegetation fires were<br />
arguably New Zealand’s most significant<br />
fire risk.<br />
Passive grazing of these areas in the past<br />
has significantly reduced the fire risk by<br />
controlling wilding pines and grasses,<br />
which left ungrazed become fuel. It also<br />
enabled the landowners and leaseholders<br />
to manage other pests while preserving<br />
open landscapes.<br />
Stokes said destocking hill and highcountry<br />
farms for conservation purposes<br />
had not been thoroughly considered and<br />
there was “simply no science” to support<br />
destocking. People had now lost their<br />
homes because of DoC mismanagement,<br />
he said.<br />
A December 2017 report commissioned<br />
by Fire and Emergency New Zealand<br />
(FENZ) investigated another dangerous<br />
aspect of wildfire control: public attitudes<br />
to fire control on lifestyle blocks.<br />
The report noted that growth of lifestyle<br />
blocks was particularly a feature of some<br />
districts known to have elevated risks of<br />
wildfire, such as Canterbury, Marlborough,<br />
and Hawkes Bay.<br />
Since 2013 New Zealand has adopted<br />
a Wildfire Threat Analysis system to<br />
identify the level of threat in a particular<br />
area. Threat is defined as a combination<br />
of risk (potential of ignition), hazard<br />
(potential fire behaviour) and values (what<br />
is important to the community that needs<br />
protection). Fire service leader Murray<br />
Dudfield was quoted as saying “managing<br />
fire related risk to land is fundamentally<br />
an issue of land management and not fire<br />
management”.<br />
The FENZ report concluded public<br />
education was an extremely important<br />
aspect of wildfire-risk reduction, “given<br />
that people cause most wildfires”.<br />
Given this, “people living in high wildfirehazard<br />
areas can make their properties<br />
more resilient by keeping a vegetation-free<br />
area around their house, clearing roofs and<br />
gutters of dead vegetation, and ensuring<br />
clear access for firefighters,” the FENZ<br />
report said.<br />
Contact Lynette DDI: 03 3647434 Mobile: 0<strong>21</strong> 222 7831 Email: Lynette.Evans@starmedia.kiwi<br />
Firewood & Coal<br />
Coal<br />
20 kg bags or<br />
500kg bulk bags<br />
Firewood<br />
Pick up or deliver<br />
(delivery charges apply)<br />
Free delivery to Darfield township when<br />
3 cubic metres or more is ordered.<br />
Landscape Products<br />
Now Available!<br />
• Forest Mulch<br />
• Bark Mulch<br />
• Bark Nuggets (10/20mm)<br />
• Premium Organic Compost<br />
• Screened Soil<br />
• Landscape Rocks<br />
• Paparoa Red Rock available in 3 grades<br />
• Railway Sleepers (2.1 Lengths)<br />
• Kindling Wood<br />
• Unscreened Bark<br />
Delivery fees apply.<br />
The Electric Smile<br />
Better for<br />
your health<br />
Quiet<br />
Cheap to<br />
Operate<br />
Powerful<br />
Please review<br />
our website<br />
for the full<br />
product range<br />
Finance Now Available!<br />
Normal credit criteria<br />
applies<br />
417 Creyke Road,<br />
Darfield<br />
Phone 03 975 4502<br />
Eftpos now available<br />
Open Monday to Friday 6am-6pm, Saturday 8am-1pm or after hours by appointment<br />
Call Bruce on 027 223 0054 for more info<br />
or email bruce@meangreenmowers.co.nz<br />
www.meangreenmowers.co.nz
Change language