Pigeon Island resolve

Damage to Rata trees on Pigeon Island in July this year has cost two Wanaka men $3000 in costs, Queenstown Lakes District Council parks manager Gordon Bailey said.

The damage was first reported by a tourist operator and inspection revealed that several large, dead limbs from protected Rata had been removed from the rock faces on the island.

“It is with some disappointment that I can disclose that the two men responsible for taking the wood were Department of Conservation employees,” Mr Bailey said.

There was some irony that they had gathered wood, not for their own personal gain, but for the hut owner on the island where they had stayed to observe and check on the Buff Weka.

‘These are both highly experienced gentlemen who have served the district for many years. In their defence they had considered that the removed limbs were dead wood but both have acknowledged that taking the wood from a live tree is an offence. It was an unfortunate case of poor judgement on their part,” Mr Bailey said.

Both men had paid the costs of the investigation and offered an apology both to the council and the Department of Conservation.

“We are very sorry that two of our staff committed this act, due to a lack of judgement, which I know they sincerely regret,” DOC area manager Wanaka Paul Hellebrekers said.

“As well as being dealt with by the QLDC, the two people concerned have also been subjected to the department’s disciplinary procedures, as we take any issue of this nature very seriously. As a result appropriate action has been taken,’ Mr Hellebrekers said.

The council now considered that was an end to the matter, Mr Bailey said.