The poles put down roots that intertwine beneath the ground, helping to stabilise it.<\/p>\n
The regional council (HBRC) borrows its share of the cost and spreads it over the general rate.<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay Federated Farmers president Jim Galloway said the poles were a great way to stabilise farmland and, if the subsidy went, it would reduce erosion control work.<\/p>\n
Farmers had a budget, just like anyone else. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the poles cost more, there will be fewer planted. They are a major part of erosion control in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
HBRC said the review was part of wider work to reduce future rates pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2025, we commissioned an independent efficiency and effectiveness review, looking at new ways to deliver soil conservation services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working to identify an efficient and sustainable way to manage erosion and keep costs manageable for our community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team will be reviewing components of soil conservation, including the willow and poplar pole nursery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galloway said it was a relatively easy and effective way to control erosion.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just stick the pole in the ground, protect it from animals, and it will grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
He understood the council needed to look at what it was doing to achieve its goals and budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know they have to save money, but it must be in the most effective ways because we, as ratepayers, are paying for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cErosion control is important and affects our rivers and coastline. Cyclone Gabrielle taught us that. <\/p>\n
\u201cFederated Farmers will be taking a close look at the proposal when it is released.\u201d<\/p>\n
HBRC said that, as part of this year\u2019s Annual Plan process, it would consider what a new, next-generation land management model could look like and whether it could continue to deliver the same benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis includes exploring a more targeted approach to soil conservation, working closely with rural communities and catchment groups, and reducing the amount of grant funding currently required to run the programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to work closely with landowners and farmers and will keep the community informed as we make progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council was still working through the details, including the cost of the poles.<\/p>\n
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The poles put down roots that intertwine beneath the ground, helping to stabilise it. The regional council (HBRC)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[40549,192,1561,5205,3588,2245,52151,12967,2893,1976,9858,663,111,43,139,34311,69,21411,7676,4887,5914,3170,7811,13172,5076,151783,14907,1533,74944],"class_list":{"0":"post-294812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-1980s","9":"tag-are","10":"tag-bay","11":"tag-council","12":"tag-cut","13":"tag-early","14":"tag-erosion","15":"tag-farmers","16":"tag-fear","17":"tag-hawkes","18":"tag-if","19":"tag-looks","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-nursery","24":"tag-nz","25":"tag-pressure","26":"tag-rates","27":"tag-reduce","28":"tag-regional","29":"tag-scheme","30":"tag-since","31":"tag-spotlight","32":"tag-subsidies","33":"tag-subsidised","34":"tag-successful","35":"tag-will","36":"tag-worsen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}