New Zealand Treecrops Association

South Island VP's Report - 2003 AGM

Annual Report of South Island Vice-President 2002/2003

It was my intention to visit all South Island Branches this year and, with one notable exception, I succeeded in this goal. The exception was Nelson Branch which I particularly regret as Nelson is something of a home town for me and a region with so many tree growing activities. However, in terms of communication with national issues, I feel Nelson is well catered for with both Roy Hart, as research co-ordinator, and Hazel Nicols, our patron, resident there.

Marlborough Tree Growers has a principal interest in timber trees but a variety of nut trees are also grown. The work I saw on Pistachios by Roger McCartney, with Roy Hart's assistance, is particularly interesting. Roy reports a major fig growing venture in the Region. Our long serving Publications Officer, Judy Bool from Anakiwa, stood down this year.

Canterbury remains the strongest Branch in the South Island and its very active committee continue to provide an excellent range of field days, a superb newsletter, and always manage to have a stall at shows. I should mention Bill Ellery's contribution to these. Leo Watson, Branch treasurer for many years and dedicated field day attendee, passed away this year and will be sorely missed.

Aoraki ran a very successful tree cropping seminar mid-year, a full field day programme, a pre-2003 Conference tour, organised single-handedly by Tricia Pope, and continues to represent tree growing interests in District Plan hearings. As a Branch, it is struggling to remain active with a small membership spread over a huge, lightly-populated area.

I admire the positive approach of West Coast Tree Growers intention to host the 2005 Conference, with an even smaller NZTCA membership but with links to Farm Forestry and the Institute of Foresters. Further links with the newly-formed Coast-wide Growers offers potential for an exciting range of conference topics from 'sub-tropical Karamea' to cool temperate South Westland. I was impressed with the variety of crops in Westland and the go-ahead concept of Coast-wide Growers.

This year's Conference is in the very capable hands of Coastal Otago Branch and it promises to be both innovative and an eye-opener to the potential of the 'cool' South. Jim Dunckley continues to produce Coastal's informative newsletter and the ever-popular pruning and grafting, hands-on field day.

I am really pleased to see Central Otago Branch back in full stride, in a region of such great tree cropping tradition. It has a strong committee and good links with the Cromwell Campus of Otago Polytechnic and its Cool Climate Crop Centre.

The new Strategic Plan, developed by Management Committee over the last year, emphasises links with kindred organisations as being a way forward for the Association. Clearly, South Island Branches are well advanced in making these links. In addition, I attended establishment meetings of two specialist industry groups, The Walnut Industry Group and Hazel Growers Association. Most commercial tree crops now have similar organisations outside NZTCA. They are, perhaps, a natural progression for specialist growers. They offer both an opportunity for NZTCA to gain from their ability to accrue knowledge and a challenge to NZTCA to identify its objectives and maintain its membership as, inevitably, members drift away into the specialist groups. Both of the organisations I mentioned have indicated their intention of keeping links with NZTCA, but there is likely to be either a drop in NZTCA membership or a higher turn-over in the membership than in the past. It will depend on how successful Branches are in identifying their role as to which results.

The Strategic Plan helps with this. It identifies roles where NZTCA has an advantage in being an established, over-arching national organisation. In particular it has a role in general tree cropping education both for members and for the public. The new members nights, seminars, and school projects that some branches organise are examples. Campaigning for better pest and disease monitoring by government is highly relevant and a role that NZTCA is well positioned to adopt. The Strategic Plan also identifies an objective of NZTCA of involvement in community issues concerning trees such as District Plans. I have been heavily involved, on behalf of Aoraki Branch, in trying to redress some of the restrictions on tree growing in the Timaru District Plan. It has proved to be a drawn out and committing project, but we are at least providing something of a balance between extremist views that were going unchallenged previously. Members have expressed similar concerns with District Plans from Southern Lakes to the Bay of Plenty.

I am standing down after three years as South Island Vice President. I sincerely thank the South Island Branch members for their hospitality and support and regret that I have not been able to visit branches more often. In this respect, I believe that there is a need for a second South Island representative on Management Committee, particularly as Roy Hart wishes to concentrate on his research co-ordinator role. A representative from one of the Otago branches would benefit those branches, reflect the innovations in horticulture in the south, and reduce the distances travelled by a more northern Committee member.

Jim Jolly

http://www.treecrops.org.nz/bydate/nat2003/sivprep03.html
Created: Friday, 13 June 2003 - Updated: 2007 August 11