The Star: March 16, 2023

• By Heidi Slade
IDENTIFYING pest plants using
artificial intelligence is now a step
closer on Banks Peninsula.
Environment Canterbury
biodiversity team leader Matt
Smith said the software is in
its early stages of development
but could be used in future to
identify nassella tussock and
other invasive plants spreading
across the peninsula.
Smith said the spread of the tussock
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puts “the whole peninsula at risk and it’s a
very costly pest for farmers to have to deal
with.’’
The current model used to identify
the tussock requires high-resolution
imagery, only available by using a
fixed wing aircraft, which is cost prohibitive
in larger areas.
Smith hopes the AI technology
would change this in time. Tracking
pest populations is a large part of
ECan’s work.
“I imagine it (AI technology) will
be a huge part of how we operate as an
organisation in the future,’’ Smith said.
“We really are just at the beginning of
it.”
If the development of the programme
continues successfully, landowners on
the peninsula will benefit, Smith said. On
large properties contractors are hired to
search for pest plants like nassella tussock,
which can cost $30,000-$40,000 a year,
Smith said.
“The efficiency is created with people
knowing exactly where they’re going.
(AI) would halve the amount of time and
money they’re spending on contractors.’’
NEWS 19
AI could be used to identify pest plants
Matt Smith
Thursday March 16 2023 The Star
The team are looking to find similar
areas of high nassella tussock density to
take more images.
“We’re just starting to dip our toes in
the water,’’ Smith said.
Agencies
duck and
dive over
noise speed
cameras
• By Tony Simons
RESIDENTS calling for noise-detecting
cameras to be installed between Lyttelton
and Governors Bay are getting the
run-around, with Government agencies
seemingly duck-shoving the idea from one
agency to the next.
Cass Bay and Governors Bay residents
want the cameras in place to catch noisy
drivers regularly racing their cars between
Lyttelton and Governors Bay.
Said city council transport operations
manager Stephen Wright: “The installation
of these type of cameras would need
to be initiated by police.”
But Canterbury road policing manager
Inspector Natasha Rodley said police are
concerned about noisy and speeding cars
in the bay area. However, ownership of
traffic safety cameras rests with Waka
Kotahi, and that includes looking at any
emerging technology, Rodley said.
Said a Waka Kotahi spokesperson:
“(These cameras) are not a priority compared
to the need to save lives on state
highways, and (for local roads) you need to
talk to the council or community board to
see if it is something they think would be
worthwhile.”
There is at least one overseas company
offering noise detection cameras, which
are being used in the United Kingdom
and the United States to help enforcement
authorities catch offenders.
Locals from Cass Bay to Governors Bay
continue to be frustrated. Police seem
powerless to stop the racers, because by
the time they arrive the offenders have
often moved on. Cass Bay resident Scott
Adams said efforts to get the cameras have
not progressed “but we are doing work in
preparation”.
Residents want the cameras because
they detect loud engine noise, read
registration plate numbers and can send
the information directly to authorities.
They suggest the evidence collected
could be used to impound or green
sticker offending vehicles. Wright has
confirmed conventional crime cameras
are being installed at Naval Point. There
are discussions about another camera
at the Dyers Pass Rd – Governors Bay
Rd intersection, but funding is yet to be
approved. It is expected to cost $8000-
$10,000, Wright said.
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