Forestry company admits role in destruction of roads and properties
Monday, 22 August 2022
A forestry company partly responsible for destructive flooding near Gisborne refused to allow a council ecologist to investigate its site, forcing the council to get a search warrant.
Ernslaw One Ltd and its sister company Timbergrow Ltd were the last of ten companies to appear in court for offending that led to widespread damage at Tolaga Bay in June 2018.
Unlike the other companies, which pleaded guilty and were fined between $124,700 and $379,000, Ernslaw and Timbergrow initially denied their offending and were going to defend their charges in a jury trial.
They changed their mind, and in June pleaded guilty to representative charges laid by Gisborne District Council.
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**
But the two companies argued in a disputed facts hearing this month that there were mitigating circumstances to their offending.
In a recently released decision, Environment Court Judge Brian Dwyer found no merit in their argument that the storm which led to the offending was worse than the council contended, and was such an extreme event that the companies could not have prevented the resultant damage.
Dwyer found that the damage was foreseeable given the East Coast was known to experience particularly intense rainfall events.
The companies had not taken necessary precautions to prevent forestry waste and debris being washed from the hills in Uawa Forest – inland of Tolaga Bay – and swept down rivers and streams to the coast.
The storm, in June 2018, saw forest debris destroy houses and roads, and damage bridges. About 400,000 cubic metres of woody debris were spread across the Uawa catchment, which feeds into the town of Tolaga Bay. Nearly 50,000 cubic metres of debris was deposited on the beach.
Much of the damage was the result of poor forestry harvesting and management, and the failure by companies to store forestry waste properly on skid sites.
The council began its prosecution against Ernslaw and Timbergrow in November 2018. The following month Ernslaw declined to consent to a council ecologist assessing the effects of the offending in the Uawa Forest.
The ecologist had to obtain a search warrant to assess the damage. He found that forest and log debris from the forest washed up over about 15 hectares of Mangaheia Station. It amounted to 180 trailer loads of pine logs removed from the worst affected paddocks at a cost of about $25,000.
Other properties were also affected.
During the council’s investigation Ernslaw’s representatives declined to attend an interview about compliance issues at the forest.
Uawa Forest has been owned by Timbergrow Ltd since 2011. The forestry operation is managed by Ernslaw One Ltd, which is one of the largest forest owners in New Zealand, with almost 100,000ha or plantation forests under its management. It is believed to be the second-largest private landowner in the country.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
The forestry companies prosecuted by Gisborne District Council following the June 2018 floods
Juken New Zealand. Fined $152,000, December 2019
Aratu, formerly known as Hikurangi Forest Farms. Fined $379,000, February 2020
DNS Forest Products (2009) Ltd. Fined $124,700, July 2020. Appeal against fine was dismissed
PF Olsen Ltd. Fined $198,000, September 2020
Ernslaw One Ltd, and TimberGrow Ltd. Pleaded guilty last month. Sentencing date yet to be set
A and R Logging. Charges withdrawn
Logic Forest Solutions. Charges withdrawn
Permanent Forest Solutions. Charges withdrawn
South Pacific Forestry Holdings Ltd. Charges withdrawn