Professional gardener Malcolm Bates is vehemently against the moth plant.
"It's one of those plants we just don't want to see in our communities," Bates told Newshub.
"It's nasty, it's horrible."
The plant is a pest for native trees - smothering them, depriving them of sunlight and eventually killing them.
In summer, the vines can be quite pretty, with white flowers which then turn into pods.
But inside the pods are thousands of seeds which Bates said was the problem.
He said in winter, the wind picks up and disperses the seeds and they grow into new moth plants.
The plant also contains white sap which is poisonous to humans and can cause skin burns.
Bates is a member of the Facebook group 'Society Totaly Against Moth Plants' (S.T.A.M.P).
"Removing it where I can because it's a service for the community. It's good for all of us but also helping teach the community how to deal with it," Bates said.
But the Facebook group can only do so much.
The Waikato Regional Council has applied to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to introduce the South American fruit fly, Anastrepha australis, as a biological control agent.
The application has been made on behalf of the National Biocontrol Collective, a group of regional and district councils and the Department of Conservation (DoC).
Waikato Regional Council's Darion Embling said research has been undertaken to find an agent which specifically targets moth plants and doesn't damage the native ecosystem.
They found the fruit fly fits the bill.
Females lay their eggs in moth plant fruit and the larvae eat the seeds inside, damaging the plant and stopping it from spreading.
The application now sits with the EPA and is open for consultation.
The EPA will then undertake a risk assessment before holding a public hearing.
But for Bates, and other S.T.A.M.P Facebook group members, they're clear "we need nature to fight nature".
