A VALUABLE ASSET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23326, 19 October 1937, Page 7

A VALUABLE ASSET

PORT CHALMERS PLANTATION SCHEME FOR MILLING TIMBER COUNCIL’S INTEREST SECURED A bombshell was dropped at the monthly meeting of the Port Chalmers Borough Council last evening when a suggestion was made by Cr H. Watson that something like 15,500 trees should be cut down anu sold both for timber and firewood. The suggestion was made at the end of the ordinary business of the council and the whole of the discussion was taken in committee, the final decision being that the council would visit its plantation in a body at an early date with the object of looking into the possibilities of the scheme outlined by Cr Watson. When the Mayor (Mr T. Scollay) asked if there was any further business before the council went into committee. Cr Watson said he wished to bring up a matter which concerned the Finance Committee, the whole council and, indeed, the whole of the ratepayers of the borough. He said he might even describe the matter as one of policy. It was a matter of thousands of trees.

The Mayor (incredulously): ¥ou surely do not propose to cut down thousands of trees? Cr Watson: I do. And I shall convince you of the wisdom of it in two minutes.

Cr Watson went on to say that for some time he had been keenly interested in the plantation around the borough’s reservoir and he had obtained expert advice on the subject. They had 45 or 50 acres of plantation on the water reserve and on it there were as many as 14 different species of trees. “Some of these,” he said, “are valuable, some will be valuable later, and some are of little value at all.”

In one part of the plantation there were 500 pinqs insignis trees ready for the mill. This meant that there was money there which the council should have in its pocket. These were 25 years old. Another part of the plantation consisted of spruce 25 years old and eight to 10 feet high. These trees had not proved successful. They could not blame those who had planted them for their failure to grow bigger, as the real reason for the failure was that the original planters had not known the right sort of tree to plant for afforestation purposes. In a different part of the plantation there was a belt of oaks which were too good to be destroyed, and he was not suggesting that these should be touched. They had one belt of pinus insignis which should have been thinned out years ago. He could not say whether the trees available there would be suitable for the mill or only for firewood, but in any event they had to be thinned out for the sake of the others. There were cypress trees of little value for any purpose, sycamores which were of some value, and some yellow pines which would be valuable later on.

Another belt which should be cut down consisted of pitch pines, which were excellent firewood. There were about 4000 of these, and they were six to 10 inches thick. Even as firewood, however, they represented money, and their places could be taken by more pinus insignis,. which would be very valuable in 25 years’ time. “There is a world shortage of timber to-day,” Cr Watson continued, “ but we are not concerned about that. More important to us is the fact that there is a local shortage. I have been told that pine timber is being brought to Dunedin from Tapanui for boxes, and that there is keen competition for any timber which may appear on the market.” Other trees which should be cut, Cr Watson stated, were the larches in the plantation and the belt of pinus insignis at the back of the reservoir. Altogether there were about 1500 pinus insignis trees which should go to the mill as soon as possible. Another large belt of pinus insignis trees /near the silt dam was 18 years old, and was doing well, but thinning was urgently needed. These were 40 to 50 feet high and five to seven inches thick. If these trees were not thinned out soon they would be worth nothing at all. In this part of the plantation there were 14,000 trees available for firewood, and these would yield hundreds of cords.

“ The state of the reservoir plantation is disgraceful—or perhaps I should use the word unfortunate, said Cr Watson. “It is certainly unfortunate that- it has not had more attention. The rest of the councillors should see what the position is for themselves. I have had the advice of experts and have concluded that there are two excellent reasons for carrying out the scheme I have in mind. One is that the thinning is necessary and will have to have attention and the other is that we need the money which is available to us there.

“ The end of our term is coming, and if we carry out my proposal, we shall be able to leave the borough in a better position than when we took office. There is available to us a monthly income of about £IOO from this source.” Cr Watson then intimated that he would outline his scheme for the disposal of the timber and firewood in committee and the council went into committee to discuss the matter. It was eventually decided that the whole council should pay an early visit to the reserve and go carefully over the ground.