5 February 2012
The Marlborough District Council has yet to formally consider an application to increase the number of logging trucks on Port Underwood Rd, but it is likely to be turned down. Members of the council's assets and services committee whas recommended that additional trucks on the Port Underwood Rd be rejected and applicants be encouraged to find other ways of removing the logs.Council assets and services department manager Mark Wheeler said council staff had been approached by prospective buyers of the Whataroa forest who wanted to use Port Underwood and Tumbledown Bay roads to carry out logs harvested from the forest for two years till they could set up a barge operation.
He said it was a big forest, and if all the logs were taken out by truck, it could mean 11,000 truck loads. "No-one wants that, and it is not acceptable."
The prospective buyers wanted to send logs out by barge, but the barging operation set up by Rayonier at Opua Bay was at full capacity with Rayonier's (now Matariki) own harvest and not able to be used by anyone else for a year.
Mr Wheeler said the prospective buyers were prepared to comply with strict conditions in order to use the roads to carry logs till they could use the Matariki barge site, including an upfront payment for road maintenance. Marlborough Roads manager Frank Porter said the roads could take the proposed extra loads.
Mayor Alistair Sowman said he met with Port Underwood residents on Wednesday and council would be buying "one heck of a fight" if it let the application go ahead.
Source: Stuff website, story by Cathie Bell, Marlborough Express. To read the full article, click here.