Geese ‘take-over’ avoided by shoot

Press, 5 March 1982, Page 4

Geese ‘take-over’ avoided by shoot

Canada ; geese on the Christchurch Drainage Board farm had increased “tremendously/' the board’s operation and services committee heard yesterday.

The committee was discussing a newspaper report about the shooting of 200 geese on Sunday in paddocks bordered by Dyers Road and Linwood Avenue. The chairman of the board, Mr C. H. Russell, said the geese had almost "taken over” the paddocks. They had fouled the pasture so cattle could no longer feed on it.

The chief engineer, Mr H. P. Hunt, said only reliable people were allowed to shoot on the board property. No shooting was done in the refuge area on the property, and the effect of the shooting

on other wildlife was minimal.

The number of ways to control the birds was limited, he said. One method, which he did not believe the board should try, was poisoning. Mr M. J. Dobson suggested the board would be wise to run its shooting programme under the supervision, of the Wildlife Service. Creek problem The cbmmittee recommended that the Drainage Board lodge an objection against a proposal to extend the netball courts in South Hagley park. The proposal involved the diversion of the Addington Dram, the meeting heard.

Mr R. 'A. Bamford said he djd not-object, to the pro-

posal. provided the diversion of the creek was acceptable from an engineering point of view. The diversion meant the creek would have two right-angle turns, which could cause flooding problems.

Mr Newton Dodge, the chairman of the committee, said the proposal was "ridiculous.” He said the netball courts could be extended on the other side of the creek. Mr Hunt said the board could not approve the creek diversion until detailed proposals had been submitted. The proposal was not particularly satisfactory, he said, because it introduced three sharp changes of direction, which could impede the flow of the creek, and because sit made the drain longer: