Council will take action over logging - 6/12/2004Mayor Michael Laws said that the Wanganui District Council had instructed its solicitors to prepare an interim enforcement order for the Environment Court that would halt any further felling, or removal of felled trees, from the Taunoka Conservation Area.
"Senior staff have advised me that, as a result of their preliminary investigation, they believe the current logging to be in breach of our District Plan. It is hoped that negotiations will resolve this matter but Council is drawing up an enforcement order should they fail.
"In essence we are saying to Mr Bergman that he should stop now pending a full investigation," said Mr Laws.
Mr Laws said that it was ironic that the Wanganui ratepayer should be drawn into a dispute between the landowner DOC, and a businessman who has legal logging rights to their forests.
"Should this matter proceed to the Environment Court we will be looking to DOC to compensate us for a good measure of our legal costs. In the interim, our emphasis is upon finding a solution. But until that is found, milling and removal of the trees should halt."
Mr Laws said Council officers had advised that the District Plan allowed 0.5 hectares of consequential logging in indigenous forests per annum and per block. Preliminary investigations suggested 2 hectares was involved. |
