Forest owners fear road cash demand

By PAM GRAHAM


Forest owners say local councils are pursuing them for road funding when dairy farmers generate more truck movements.

The Forest Owners Association said a report it commissioned by consultant Frame Group lent weight to its claims that forest owners were being singled out by district councils to pay for roading upgrades.

Infrastructure is a big issue for the forestry industry because the harvest is predicted to nearly double in the next 20 years as forests in new regions mature for the first time.

"Councils should regard the rates collected while a forest is growing as an advance payment towards the roading services which will be needed only when logs are harvested," said association chief executive Rob McLagan.

Some councils spent rates collected from forest owners on other priorities and many were too small and struggling to build a viable rating base.

Some roads were being over-designed or over-engineered and there were ways of organising logging traffic to minimise disruption to local communities.