BUILDING TIMBER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21979, 25 March 1946, Page 4

BUILDING TIMBER

SHORTAGES MAY CONTINUE PROBLEMS OF SUPPLY "The demand for timber must continue to exceed the foi some considerable time ahead, with only a very gradual overtaking of the position likely.” said a sub-committee of the North Island Sawmillers’ Distributing Association, in a statement dealing with the supply of timber for building construction. With an increasing demand for buildings of all types, accentuated by the restrictions necessitated during the war years and the greatly increased housing requirements, timber supplies remained inadequate to meet the demand, said the committee. . The timber producing areas winch provided for the whole of the North Island, exclusive of Northland, Hawke s Bay and Gisborne, produced approximately 109 million feet annually, excluding white.pine. This quantity comprised 74 per cent of rirnu, 14 per cent of matai, 7 per cent of totara, and 5 per cent of secondary species. About 51 per cent of the total production occurred in the Main Trunk railway line area, and the balance in the RotoruaBay of Plenty areas. No great increase could be expected in indigenous production. The opening up of new bush areas would assist, but with the great distances at which such areas were situated from the rail, transport problems would continue to represent a governing factor for a while at least, both with regard to .suitable typos of vehicle and the cost of transport. Only by. the expansion of exotic production, therefore, and its ultimate utilisation to the maximum extent possible wherever suitable, could a solution bo hoped for.