Tussock board funding to go

Press, 27 January 1988, Page 4

Tussock board funding to go

The Government is to phase out its funding of the North Canterbury and Marlborough Nassella Tussock Boards by 1990. The North Canterbury Board stands to lose more than $700,000 as a result of the change. The decision to withdraw Government support was made independently of the on-going reviews of weed and pest control bodies and local government reform, both of which will have a direct

bearing on the country’s two nassella tussock boards. The Director-General of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr M. L. Cameron, said the review of weed and pest administration had been noted by the Cabinet Policy Committee, and the boards would be retained until the recommendations of the review were acted on. The Cabinet’s decision on funding allows the boards to lobby against

the change,

~, The chairman of the North Canterbury Nassella Tussock Board, Mr John Chaffey, said Cabinet’s decision to withdraw funding had come as a surprise in terms of its severity and timing. Mr Chaffey said that on the existing funding formula some farmers were already paying four figure sums for tussock control and would be “absolutely devastated” by the prospect of higher costs.