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The Northland Regional Council introduced Community Pest Control Areas (CPCAs) into the region several years ago to support local communities wanting to control plant and animal pests themselves.

Mike Knight, a Kaitaia-based Pest Management Officer with the Regional Council, says the Council hopes to attract up to 30 people to the two-hour Sunday 7 June open day to be held from 10am at Alister and Lynn Candy's Okaihau farm.

The open day will include information from several Mid and Far North landowners about existing CPCAs and allow plenty of time for questions from members of the public.

“There are now about two dozen CPCAs operating around Northland, including eight in the Mid and Far North.  The beauty of these schemes is that they allow landowners to identify the areas in their own communities that they believe warrant protection, what pest species they want to target and to what level they want to control them.”

Mr Knight says CPCAs are designed to run over more than five years and involve a gradually reducing level of financial assistance from the Regional Council.

In the first year, the Regional Council typically meets all the costs of work to reduce pest levels to a manageable level, as well as training landowners in pest management techniques.

"In the second and third years, landowners assume more responsibility and need to provide the necessary labour, but the Regional Council still supplies free poisons, traps and herbicides."

In the fourth and fifth years of the scheme, the Council will meet part of the costs of those poisons, traps and herbicides with the landowners meeting the remainder.

"After that, landowners will be required to control pests to an agreed level at their own cost."

Mr Knight says the Candy's farm rapid number is 567 and it is at the end of Signals Road, opposite the Okaihau golf course.  A free BBQ lunch will be provided.

He says people interested in attending can contact him on (027) 494 5328 or e-mail him via mikek@nrc.govt.nz