Catchment forest idea seen as ‘obnoxious’

Press, 2 September 1989, Page 2

Catchment forest idea seen as ‘obnoxious’

By

JANE DUNBAR

North Canterbury Catchment Board members have criticised the chief executive of the new Canterbury Regional Council, Mr Malcolm Douglass, over what the chairman of the board called an “obnoxious” forestry proposal.

Mr Douglass has suggested the Catchment Board’s timber plantations should be taken over by the Selwyn Plantation Company when the board’s functions are absorbed by the new regional council in October. In return for the forests, the regional council would gain shares in the company. But the Catchment Board’s chairman, Mr Richard Johnson, yesterday described the idea as “obnoxious.” The prime function of the board’s 1250 ha of forest, which have an insurance value of $l2O

million, wais river control, said Mr Johnson. The forests were on land set aside last century when the Waimakariri started to cause flooding problems for Christchurch. The reserve land was to be held in trust by the board and used for river protection and soil conservation. In areas such as McLeans Island, the land had taken on an added importance as it was a recreational asset. The board’s deputy chairman, Mr Oakleigh Osborne, said it seemed Mr Douglass did not

understand the purpose of the board’s reserve land.

Instead, he appeared to be using a “back-door method” to try to get regional trading enterprises back into the regional council’s sphere, said Mr Osborne. It was not the regional council’s responsibility to get involved with regional trading enterprises, he said.

Board members voted unanimously that river protection offered by the forest plantations had greater priority than commercial return. A recommendation will go to the

new regional council that the board’s reserves be retained for river, protection purposes,' recreational use, and as a nucleus for future regional reserves. Mr Douglass was not available for comment yesterday as he was away from Christchurch. The Catchment Board will also make an urgent submission to the Government regarding the Crown Forest Assets Bill. Board members were not against-cutting rights to state forests being sold, but were concerned that certain controls would need to be put in place.

The worst scenario would be foreign companies buying cutting rights to Canterbury forests, logging and exporting without making use of Canterbury industry, said Mr Johnson.

Forestry prospects in Canterbury were not great because of the risk of fire, windblow and drought. This meant it was unlikely companies would want to re-plant, and would instead leave behind eyesores which exacerbated Canterbury’s erosion problems. Legislation should make sure such events did not happen, said Mr Johnson.