The mayor of Gisborne wants reassurances that her council will not lose its ability to apply strict rules to forestry on vulnerable land. It comes as Wood Central reported that the New Zealand government would roll back “unworkable rules” in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Wood Central understands that the Luxon government wants to repeal parts of the commercial forestry legislation that allow councils to make the rules more or less stringent regarding slash management and freshwater.
However, speaking to RNZ, Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz said that the region’s eroding and vulnerable lands needed stricter forestry rules: “My clear understanding is that (the rules proposed) are aimed at the lower risk areas; however, here in Tairāwhiti, that is not our concern. We have a unique geology and topography with higher risk areas.”
Now, Mayor Stoltz wants reassurance from New Zealand’s Forestry Minister Todd McClay “that the rules would not affect the work that (the council) is trying to do to have a “central purpose” for higher-risk areas.”
It comes as “absolutely impossible” consent conditions are causing New Zealand forestry companies to “bleed money,” forcing some to move to Australia, South Africa or further offshore. As reported by RNZ, harvesting has already stopped in some areas of Tairawhiti, a direct fallout after the district was smashed by devastating cyclones last year.
At a Gisborne District Council Sustainable Tairāwhiti committee meeting earlier this month, Julian Kohn, a 65-year-old veteran of the forestry industry, said conditions are the most difficult he has seen in more than 45 years that he has been in the industry.
“If I were a board member for these companies, I’d be seriously asking myself why we are still in Gisborne and what we are doing here, ” he told the committee. “We’re not making any money.
“Capital is very mobile. Those companies could very easily decide to cut their losses and go to Australia or South Africa or wherever they can make better money.”
“Forestry in New Zealand is extremely difficult… forestry in Gisborne is worse than extremely difficult. Every person I talk to in the industry says they won’t invest in Gisborne.”
According to Todd McClay, the current rules introduced by the former Chris Hipkins government in the lead-up to last year’s election are an “unworkable regulatory burden” that created confusion and cost. For instance, he said, “Foresters could be required to get consent for new plantings in areas with little risk.”
“It’s important that forestry rules are nationally consistent and always based on clearly demonstrable evidence,” Minister McClay said, adding that the government would make changes to ensure councils had a “comprehensive fit-for-purpose” toolkit with all the rules in one place.
The rules governing “low-risk slash” would also be clarified, he said:
“These changes will allow the councils to focus on the most at-risk areas and work with the forestry sector to lower costs and deliver better social and environmental outcomes.”
For what it’s worth, Minter Ellison, one of the country’s top legal firms, has welcomed the reforms, arguing that inconsistencies in rules across jurisdictions have caused compliance costs to spike.
“It appears likely that a local authority’s ability to introduce more stringent or lenient rules within their districts/regions will be significantly reduced,” according to Minter Ellison: “This is likely to be a positive step for the forestry sector, who have been grappling with different rules applying across their forests, increasing regulatory compliance and costs.”
Minister Ellison said the Luxon Government is proposing to:
- Repeal regulation 6(4A), which says a rule in a plan may be more stringent or lenient than the NES-CF regulations relating to afforestation;
- Modify regulation 6(1)(a), which says a rule in a plan may be more stringent than the NES-CF regulations if the rule gives effect to an objective developed to give effect to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and
- Improve slash management standards to clarify rules around slash on low-risk land.
For more information about New Zealand’s forest policy, click on Wood Central’s special feature.
