West Coast Councillors Accuse DOC of Abdicating Pest Control Responsibilities

Tensions flare as West Coast councillors accuse DOC of shifting the cost of feral animal control to local ratepayers amid skyrocketing pest populations in 2026.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 9, 2026, 5:14 AM EDT

Source: RNZ Pacific

Tension Mounts Over Shifting Biosecurity Frontiers

A workshop on the West Coast Regional Pest Management Plan has exposed deep-seated tensions between local government and national environmental agencies. Council chief executive Darryl Lew highlighted a growing trend where government agencies, struggling to win the battle against invasive species, seek to "surrender" and hand management duties over to regional councils. This potential shift has sparked immediate backlash from elected members who view the move as an attempt to offload the costs of Crown land maintenance onto a small pool of local ratepayers.

The Financial Burden on West Coast Ratepayers

Councillor Peter Ewen has emerged as a vocal critic of the proposal, explicitly stating he would "not have a bar" of ratepayers bearing the cost for controlling wild ungulates—deer, pigs, and goats. With only 21,000 rating units across the West Coast, Ewen argued that the current cost-of-living crisis makes any additional levy for pest control unjustifiable. He characterized the presence of feral animals as a "government agency's problem," asserting that because 85 percent of the West Coast is non-rateable Crown land, the financial responsibility for biosecurity must remain at the national level.

Skyrocketing Pest Numbers and Proposed Management Changes

The urgency of the debate is driven by a significant surge in feral animal populations across the region. The proposed management plan seeks to include several species not currently covered, including wallabies, feral cats, mustelids, rats, and possums, alongside wild ungulates. Environmental science group manager Shanti Morgan noted that while the regional council has not been explicitly asked to take over all DOC management, the "line has to be drawn somewhere" regarding what the government can feasibly eradicate. The council’s subsidiary, Vector Control Services Ltd, already performs some of this work under contract, but the dispute lies in who will fund future large-scale operations.