Timber release plan stalledFriday 1 Mar 2019 Victoria's state-owned forestry corporation has been told to suspend the release of new areas of native forest for logging, in a decision the timber industry says has put scores of regional small businesses in peril. The Andrews government has intervened to stop VicForests putting out its next timber release plan, due to concerns about threats to protected wildlife and the impact of recent bushfires and climate change on the state's forests.The timber release plan – a document that identifies coupes that can be logged over the next three to five years – is already more than a year overdue. On Thursday VicForests said the Andrews government had directed it not to proceed with a timber release plan until further policy work was completed. “In the meantime, we are working with customers and contractors to manage supply under the existing [plan],” Alex Messina, VicForests' general manager of corporate affairs, said. The intervention does not affect logging in coupes that have already been allocated, but timber millers and logging contractors fear they are potentially months away from exhausting their allocated supplies. Reece Reynolds runs a logging business in Buchan in East Gippsland and said he and others in the industry faced growing uncertainty about their working futures, with a limited number of coupes available on the current plan. “Instead of some people being out of work and others working, in two months’ time we might all be out of work,” Mr Reynolds said. Simon McConachy from SKM Contracting in Gippsland said he had already been hit hard by the timber shortfall. “At this stage I’m the worst affected,” Mr McConachy said. “I have not harvested a tree since the Australia Day weekend and this is the worst it has ever been. I have sub-contractors, young men with families and I’ve had to tell them to find any work they can.” An Andrews government spokesman said more time was needed to develop a plan that balanced the interests of industry, the environment and community attitudes. “We’ve asked VicForests for some additional time so we can make sure new timber release plan gets the balance right,” the spokesman said. Source: Sydney Morning Herald |
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