The Tukituki Controlled Area Notice 2023 will expire at the end of the month and will not be renewed.

The Controlled Area Notice was put in place to allow for controlled gravel extraction from the Tukituki and Waipawa Rivers after Cyclone Gabrielle to assist recovery efforts while mitigating the spread of Chilean Needle Grass (CNG).

The biosecurity restrictions relating to gravel extraction under the Tukituki Controlled Area Notice 2023 will cease on the Waipawa River from Stockade Road to two kilometres downstream of the Patangata Bridge on the Tukituki River. This will also be applied to stockpiles that have been previously extracted from this area.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Catchment Management Lead - Biosecurity Matt Short said a CNG survey of the upper section of the Controlled Area was completed in December 2023 and did not detect any plants within the active channel.

“Taking this survey into account, Regional Council biosecurity staff have reassessed the risk of spreading CNG through gravel extraction from the area upstream of Patangata Bridge. They consider this activity to be low risk when balanced against other means of dispersal.”

A consent to extract gravel from the rivers is still required from Regional Council, but there will be no biosecurity restrictions on the gravel’s end use.

Biosecurity restrictions relating to gravel extraction will remain in place downstream of two kilometres below the Patangata Bridge to the Tukituki mouth at Haumoana - owing to known CNG sites in the active river channel and berms.

If CNG is detected outside of the restricted area, Regional Council will reassess its position and consider what restrictions may be required.

For further information on applying to extract river materials, visit https://www.hbrc.govt.nz/services/resource-consents/application-forms/gravel-extraction/.

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