What's different in Rolleston
Built quickly
Selwyn District Council's 2018 strategy expected Rolleston to grow from around 17,000 people to roughly 27,000 by 2031. It counted over 2,500 building consents a year across the district.
The council is in town
Selwyn District Council set up its central headquarters in Rolleston in 2007. Its strategy calls the town a hub in the centre of the district, closely linked to Christchurch.
New gardens carry passengers
DOC says potted plants carry the highest risk of spreading Argentine ants, and that garden soil, bark and building materials can carry them too. DOC lists Christchurch among the places they're known. We have no record of them in Rolleston, which is a good reason to check deliveries.
Sleepers in the landscaping
MPI says Australian subterranean termites are most likely to be linked to imported wood such as Australian hardwood railway sleepers used in landscaping. Mud packed into gaps in a sleeper is a report to MPI, and you shouldn't disturb it.
Mice and rats on a new section
A new house still has gaps, around pipes, cables and the garage door. When the weather turns, mice and rats from open land a street or two away look for exactly those. Health NZ says to proof holes and accesses into buildings, store food carefully and get rid of rubbish.
Building offcuts left in a pile are a gift to rats. The EPA says they nest in piles of timber, bricks and rubble, so clear what the builders left behind.
Wasps in new streets
Wasps nest in banks and at the base of flax or grass clumps, the Tasman and Nelson councils' insect booklet says. New plantings and bare earth banks are common in a growing town, so walk the boundary in late summer and look for a steady line of wasps going to one spot. If you find one, keep back and tell a pest business where it is.
On a new section
You can
- Check pots and bags of bark before they go in the garden.
- Fill gaps around pipes and cables where they enter the house.
- Keep the garage door down at night.
- Store pet food and grain in sealed containers.
Leave to a pest business
- Any wasp nest.
- Rats or mice that are already inside.
- Ants that come back after you've wiped the trail away.
Our take on pests in Rolleston
A new home is easier to keep pest-free than an old one, so we'd use that. We'd seal the obvious gaps, clear the builders' leftovers and check the garden before it goes in. If something's already moved in, we'd tap what we've seen and let a pest business find how it got there.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
