‘Bloody gutting,’ mayor says as Carter Holt Harvey confirms closure of Tasman sawmill with loss of 142 jobs

Thursday, 4 September 2025

Fletcher Building posted a $419m loss, Spark profits fell 18%, Kiwibank down 5%, SkyCity revenue down 11%. Meanwhile, Carter Holt Harvey proposes closing Nelson’s Eves Valley sawmill, putting 142 jobs at risk in a challenging economic period.

Confirmation that Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) will close its sawmill in Eves Valley, with the loss of 142 jobs, is “bloody gutting”, Tasman Mayor Tim King says.

“There’s not a lot of jobs like this in provincial New Zealand, good solid manufacturing jobs,” King said.

The impact of the job losses had huge economic and social impacts, he said.

“These people have families, kids in school,” he said, and it was unlikely they could all find replacement jobs in the area.

“Also lots of other businesses supply services to the mill. So the flow on effects right throughout the community are going to be very significant,” King said.

The company had not confirmed to him the mill would be closed, he said on Thursday evening, but “from the chatter post 3 o’clock, it’s been pretty obvious”.

CHH announced the potential closure of the 40-year-old sawmill, near Brightwater, southwest of Nelson, to staff on August 20.

Carter Holt Harvey has confirmed its sawmill in Eves Valley, near Nelson, will close.

On Monday, King and Nelson Mayor Nick Smith wrote a letter to CHH chief executive Prafull Kesha making a “plea” for the closure to be delayed because an estimated 5500 hectares of forest had been felled by wind and sodden ground in the massive double storms of late June and early July.

“We believe it is in the best interests of the region and forest industry that the Eves Valley sawmill continue to operate to help us manage this wall of wood over the next year,” the letter said.

“We are asking that, as a corporate citizen that has operated this profitable sawmill in our region for 40 years, you not abandon us in our hour of need.”

On his Facebook page, Smith said he was disappointed CHH “did not have the courtesy” to speak or meet with himself or King after they made the plea for the closure to be deferred.

Tasman Mayor Tim King said the decision to close the sawmill was “bloody gutting”.

“I expect better from our corporate citizens,” Smith said.

He had talked to the Ministry of Social Development and ministers about support for the affected workers including helping them find alternative employment.

“I have also had discussions with parties interested in buying/leasing or investing in other wood processing. I will continue to do what I can to try and resurrect something from this blow to our regional economy,” Smith said.

On Thursday, King said he hadn’t had much hope the letter would delay the closure.

“We have an obligation to certainly try and encourage a better outcome, but that was always going to be a very unlikely result,” King said.

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said he was disappointed CHH did not have the courtesy to speak to himself and King after they made a late-minute plea for the closure to be deferred.

He did not have any clarity about the future of the mill site, with his understanding being that it was likely to be closed and mothballed.

“Both myself and Nick Smith have had communications with a whole wide range of people, with a very wide range of suggestions, some more realistic than others, but ultimately it’s not really a role for the councils.”

Union E tū said on Thursday afternoon that CHH had confirmed the closure of the plant.

The closure was part of CHH’s plan to consolidate structural timber manufacturing at its Kawerau site in the Bay of Plenty, E tū said in a release.

The move was a strategic decision that ignored the human cost, E tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh said.

“This isn’t a company going broke – they’ve chosen to centralise operations in Kawerau.

“But we’re talking about people’s lives here, and it’s cold comfort for more than 140 workers who are now facing unemployment in a region already hit hard,” Mackintosh said.

“These workers, many of whom have put decades of their lives into the mill, are now caught in the crossfire of a corporate decision.

“E tū will do everything we can to support our members through this difficult time. We’re calling on CHH to do the same, and we also expect the Government to step up.

“Instead of shrugging its shoulders at rising unemployment, the Government must be part of the solution, with targeted support for affected workers and communities.”

E tū delegate Maria Hemara said the announcement was devastating.

“I feel like I’ve lost my whole family. We work together for 40 hours a week, we’ve built friendships, and it’s all being taken away. It’s like going to your own funeral,” Hemara said.

“I’ll be looking for jobs – I’ve tried supermarkets, and other mills around here. If not, I’ll have to go temping something.

“I think it will be a burden for the whole community. They will share our grief. The loss of jobs and productivity in the region isn’t good for anyone.”