Forestry production in this district is projected to increase by threefold over the next decade, generating economic growth of about 25 percent, a public forestry seminar heard yesterday.

“By 2020 about 7500 people could be working in the industry in this region,” said Eastland Wood Council chairman Trevor Helson.

Mr Helson was a keynote speaker at the Forestry Futures seminar, hosted by Transition Towns, a community-driven movement that focuses on climate change, resource depletion and sustainability.

Other keynote speakers were Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty and Eastland Port general manager Andrew Gaddum.

Figures presented by Mr Gaddum showed log volumes through the port would rise to about 3.4 million cubic metres by 2020, a 240 percent increase on current annual volumes of around 1.4 million cubic metres.

While it was a significant level of growth, it was sustainable, he said.

The port had continually invested in efficiency improvement measures, including a new debarker, a new weighbridge and new port layout that were contributing to faster processing times.

They were exploring ways of improving fuel efficiency as the volumes grew, including kite surfing and sail technology on logging ships, the use of hybrid trucks and potentially larger trucks that could take bigger loads, minimising the number on roads.

Crawford Road resident Neil Ward questioned the impact increased production would have on nearby residents.

As it was, out-of-town trucks were continuing to use Crawford Road as a shortcut to get to the port despite the recommended route being along Wainui Road.

“These out-of-town trucks aren’t paying for the roads, so they shouldn’t be using roads the ratepayer is paying for . . . if forestry wants to be a real part of the community, they should have to pay or at least use the route that has the least impact on residents,” he said.

Gisborne District Council engineering and works manager Peter Higgs said as it was a public road, the trucks were free to use it. But the council was in discussions with the industry about a voluntary approach to not using Crawford Road.

He hoped an agreement would be reached in the coming months.

A member of the public asked why they could not work with KiwiRail to use the line between Gisborne and Napier to reduce the number of trucks on the road.

Mr Helson said there was nowhere to load a large container going south, and as it was about 60 percent of the logs were coming from the north.

It also came down to economics, said Mr Helson.

By the time the forestry sector peaked in 2020, it was expected to contribute district-wide economic growth of about 25 percent, or $6000 per capita.

“This is huge when you consider this is a rather depressed area economically. We could have another one, two or even three more mills built to take advantage of the product that is available here, but the struggle is to attract investment.”

People asked about the possibility of building mills in Ruatoria, or ports at Hicks Bay and Tolaga Bay.

Mr Helson said there was not sufficient electricity or labour in Ruatoria to make building a mill there viable, but there certainly was scope for a port up the Coast.

Mr Gaddum said Tolaga Bay was not suitable, but there was potential for a port at Hicks Bay.

It was one of those things that would solve itself in future when increasing fuel costs made it necessary to look at new opportunities.

“When it gets too expensive to put things on trucks, it will happen pretty quickly. There has been a lot of work investigating a port at Hicks Bay and it is feasible . . . it just comes down to who is going to put their hands in their pocket.”

Catherine Delahunty said there needed to be smarter planning that focused on sustainability in the long term, that was not just about profits but also about the environment.

“The community needs to benefit from these figures . . . it needs to be a real benefit, not just for the companies making a profit.

She also said there needed to be greater emphasis on education in the forestry industry, and providing better opportunities for young people.

Diverse, sustainable and carbon sequestering forests were the way forward, she said.