The forestry industry will maintain and repair some roads
Waitomo District Council has accepted an offer from Greenplan Forestry for the industry to maintain and repair roads used by logging operators and has in return reduced a proposed more than $40 a hectare forestry rating differential.
The adjustment is in response to a flood of submissions against the differential increase, which would have taken the differential from just over $4 to more than $40 per hectare on farm forestry blocks.
The proposed differential increase is now just under $12 per hectare. Mayor John Robertson said the increase would cover the cost of damage to secondary roads.
For instance log trucks exiting Mapara South Road, turned onto Kopaki Road. The proposed three times differential would bring an additional $160,000 to $200,000 which could be applied to district roads used by logging trucks, roads that were not repaired and maintained by logging companies.
“$160 to $200,000 does not go far. We need to seek subsidiary funding from NZTA to increase this,” Robertson said. “Whether we will get this is unknown.”
There would also be a cost to council for an employee tasked with making the road repair and maintenance agreements with the industry and rural residents.
He described it as a welcome novel solution that made sense, that resolved a substantial part of the issue the district council was confronted with.
Forestry was a significant industry in Waitomo representing some six per cent of the total land area in the district. Logs supported a local timber processing industry feeding domestic and export markets.
