10 December 2014

Log yard expansion to begin in January - Eastland Group chief executive Matt Todd announced today that construction work to expand Eastland Port's upper log yard by 1.3 hectares will begin in January 2015.

Mr Todd says the $12 million contract has been awarded to Downer and activity is already underway to prepare the port for the expected six months of construction ahead. The multimillion dollar project will take the upper log yard's footprint from 2.2 to 3.5 hectares, improving operations significantly for forestry customers, and taking the total log storage area on port to 12.2 hectares.

"The changes will also improve aesthetics for nearby residents, and reduce potential issues such as noise and dust. A four metre by six metre earth wall will be built around the perimeter of the site and planted with natives. We've had extensive consultation with landscape architects to ensure anything planted is what Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks would have seen on Titirangi Hill when they sailed into the bay. An internal fence will be entirely screened by the thousands of trees we plant," says Mr Todd.

The upper log yard expansion project is part of Eastland Group's ten-year development plan and is one of the company's biggest investments since it bought the port. Log export volumes have grown from 350,000 tonnes in 2005 to 2.3 million tonnes in 2014.