Cyclone Gabrielle lessons could be far reachingFriday 10 Mar 2023 A review of Nelson City Council’s commercial pine plantations will consider the outcome of a ministerial inquiry into forestry slash in the North Island. The NZ Government has ordered the inquiry into land use and the impact of forestry slash and sediment in Tairāwhiti/Gisborne and Wairoa – exactly two weeks after Nelson City Council approved a taskforce to consider the future of the council’s forestry blocks.Mayor Nick Smith said the “Right Tree Right Place Taskforce”, chaired by former parliamentary commissioner for the environment, Dr Morgan Williams, would focus on what the council wanted to plant in its 600ha of forests, rather than the council’s role as regulator of the 80,000ha of commercial forestry in the Nelson region. ”[But] there still will be learnings for us from the ministerial inquiry, in improving the rules around forestry and managing forestry slash.” The Government ordered the two-month ministerial inquiry after slash filled beaches and riverbanks in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. Forestry Minister Stuart Nash said current forestry practices had clearly caused more damage. “There is a lot of wood ending up on our beaches, taking out our bridges, and it's not acceptable,” he said. The inquiry panel was due to make recommendations to improve land use in Tairāwhiti and Wairoa in Hawke’s Bay, including changes needed to practices and regulation at central and local government levels. That could include consideration of forestry practices, Resource Management Act plans and “National Direction”, for example, the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry and the Tairāwhiti and Wairoa District Resource Management Plans. The inquiry was a response to a petition signed by more than 10,000 people in Tairāwhiti for land use to be better managed. Tasman District Council received a 3500 signature petition in 2018 for stronger controls on the forestry industry after ex-cyclone Gita hit the region. Last year, slash and recently-harvested forestry land were blamed for damage to some properties in Nelson, during an “atmospheric river” of rain. National’s candidate in Tukituki, Hawke’s Bay, Catherine Wedd questioned why other parts of Hawke’s Bay were not included in the ministerial inquiry, when slash and wooden debris “played a significant role” in the damage in the region during Cyclone Gabrielle. Asked if the Nelson region should have its own ministerial inquiry, Nick Smith said the Nelson region did not have the extremely erosion-prone land that Tairāwhiti did, even in the granite country surrounding the Abel Tasman National Park. Smith said he was “quite surprised by how short the timetable” was for the inquiry, but the timing would allow the Nelson taskforce to take into account “any of the learnings from Cyclone Gabrielle and the ministerial inquiry”. The taskforce was due to report back later this year, in time for any changes to be consulted on through the council’s long term plan. More >> Source: Stuff |
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