Jobs lost as Palmerston sawmill closes

Friday 14 Mar 2025

 
A dozen jobs have been lost in an East Otago town as a sawmill closes after nearly 40 years. At its peak, Palmerston’s privately owned sawmill and timber merchant Hewvan Timber employed 25 people.

Proprietor John Millar said he made the difficult decision to wind down the business, with the loss of 12 jobs, because of tough economic times. Mr Millar said the balance tipped while weighing up the substantial upgrade costs he faced to meet WorkSafe requirements.

"Things aren’t viable, and I’ve had WorkSafe in here and the amount of money they want us to spend bringing it up — it’s just not worth doing. I’m coming up 67, and I’ve made the call." 

It might have been different if he were 20 years younger.

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Source: Otago Daily Times
Image credit: Hewvan Timber


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