Sense of land exploitation because forestry 'unregulated': inquiry chair

Ministerial Inquiry panel chair Hekia Parata. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell

There is a sense that land has been exploited because forestry companies were “unregulated” and “unmonitored”, says the chair of a ministerial inquiry into land use in Tairāwhiti and Wairoa.

The inquiry was set up in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle with former National government minister Hekia Parata chairing a three-person independent panel.

Speaking to The Gisborne Herald this week, Ms Parata said 313 public submissions were received by the

April 6 deadline.

Many had common concerns.

“They are concerned about what the land uses are in terms of the particular environments and whether they can support them in a sustainable way.

“They are concerned about the isolation and sense of abandonment in some communities.”

Emotional and mental health of isolated communities and the fragility of the region’s infrastructure were also common themes.

Poor health provisions on the East Coast were also a concern, including the difficulty in getting ambulances up the Coast.

“They are concerned, too, in the context of climate clearly changing that land use for the future.

“There are those who have commented on the role of the forestry sector and on the other hand, there are families and communities who have acknowledged they have had generational employment in the forestry sector.

“I think everybody is keen to see significant improvement in forestry practices and that there is a sense that because forestry has been unregulated, unmonitored and not particularly compliant, that has led to some exploitation of the land in that numbers of trees have been planted in places that really are unsustainable.”

Ms Parata said there had also been “consistent” concern about Gisborne District Council’s capacity to issue appropriate consents and then monitor for compliance, and take action where forestry companies had not observed good practice.

“There is concern about slash, woody debris and sedimentation and how quickly that will get removed, not just from the beaches, but also a widespread fear about the large amount of woody debris that is up on the hills and ridges and every time it rains when that will come down and what further negative impact that will have.”

Provision of water into Gisborne and the fact there was only one road around the East Coast was another theme.

The inquiry had been unaffected by the resignation of Forestry Minister Stuart Nash and the stepping down of panel member Bill Bayfield, she said.

The independent panel of Ms Parata and Matt McCloy was joined by Dave Brash soon after this, and the inquiry had been supported by staff from the Ministry of the Environment, Ministry for Primary Industries and Te Puni Kōkiri.

The eight-week inquiry is coming to the end of its fifth week.

“We have had people at every public engagement,” Ms Parata said.

Being able to use the online facilities at EIT (Eastern Insititute of Technology) had been extremely helpful in ensuring big numbers of people were able to participate in online public meetings.

“We have had significant engagement and I think it gives  real authority to the findings of our inquiry.”

The final report will be delivered by the end of April.

“I want to thank and acknowledge all the people who have participated and have shared with us very direct views and with high expectations that the inquiry report will both reflect their views and make recommendations that will lead to transformative change.

“We have been the beneficiary of some very technically capable and specialised people, who have devoted themselves to understanding the terrain of this region and the waterways.

“For instance, the contribution gullies make to sedimentation. We had been hearing that was the fault of the forestry sector but, in fact, the vast majority of sedimentation has come from unhealed gullies, so it has been fascinating to hear the challenges of the region and the huge proportion of land that has high erosion susceptibility.

“There is a lot of interest in how there can be more investment and also, for instance, how the ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) might be tweaked to incentivise more biodiversity, more native plantings and more good jobs.”