Wednesday 4 June we met with Hancock Management staff, NCC environmental officers and The Manager of Tiakina te Taiao at Almonds flat discussing the logging of the hillside above almonds flat and Waahi Taakaro Golf Course. Hancock staff explained how they were carefully logging the trees close to the river 1 by 1 to avoid trees falling into the river or damaging Kahikatea and exotic trees that need to remain in the area. Logging had also been hampered by the recent storm taking down several trees in the gully. Part of that site is now finished and the remaining branches that are left lying around will remain there to decompose over time. This is an acceptable and safe method. Staff explained that this site was different from the site in Motueka that lead to a large slip and loss of life last year. Remaining tree stumps and steepness of the terrain would provide less chance of soil drenching which can lead to land slips. The block above the golf course will for now remain until a more cost effective way can be found to harvest the trees as the current method is too costly in order to keep the Golf course, Maitai river and its users safe. Extensive work is being done to avoid silt getting into stream and the boundary of broom creek is being planted with native trees at the moment. This area was so overgrown with old man’s beard that trees were suffocated. As the area above Almond flats and the golf course are too close to the urban area Hancock have suggested to the local Iwi, Ngāti Kōata who now own the land not to replant the area with Pinus radiata as it is not cost effective. The suggestion now is to replant this area in native trees. Frank Hipoliote representing Tiakina te Taiao (environmental agency that represents four of the six iwi in the Whakatu and Motueka district) explained that the iwi is currently considering their options on how to proceed with the block. As much as they would like land to be returned to native vegetation they also needed to make money. Extensive work was needed for weed control while the new native plants were establishing all at a cost. NCC Staff explained how the council was managing re growth on Fringed Hill and the Grampians and the difficulty of controlling old man’s beard, banana passion fruit, gorse and broom. Replanting with Pinus Radiata would cost $900 per hectare while native replanting would cost $40K. While Hancock Management seemed to be on board in minimising the environmental impact of Forestry in the Maitai it’s now up to Ngāti Kōata to decide how to proceed with this site.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 10:01:37 +0000
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