A potentially fractious community meeting between forestry and farming interests in Lawrence passed without incident yesterday.
Prior to the meeting at the Lawrence Golf Club, which was attended by more than 100 people, local landowners had reported tempers had reached "boiling point" due to allegations of forestry companies failing to properly control pests, and shooting trespassing farm stock.
However, Senior Constable Paul Alden, of Lawrence, who convened and chaired the meeting, said he was pleased with the overall "positive" tone of discussions.
"We’ve had a great turnout, which illustrates perhaps that this was something that was needed, and I think we’ve achieved the desired outcome today, getting conversations started between the various stakeholders and neighbours here in the Lawrence area. I’m optimistic positive discussions will ensue."
Snr Const Alden addressed issues such as boundaries and fencing, poaching concerns and pest control during the meeting, giving a panel of forestry representatives a chance to explain their policies and answer questions.
Representatives of Rayonier Matariki Forests, Wenita Forest Products — on behalf of Corisol NZ — and Port Blakely Ltd attended.
Wenita chief executive David Cormack said the interests of forestry and landowners aligned.
"We see ourselves as part of this community, and we want to be good neighbours. This meeting is long overdue, and we’d encourage anyone with concerns to contact us directly at any time," he said.
Addressing allegations of stock culling on Corisol forestry land, Mr Cormack said there had been a breakdown in communication, and the stock owner should have been contacted before any culling took place.
He said Wenita and the affected landowner were now working to resolve the issue.
Rayonier Southland regional manager Hamish Fitzgerald said a letter would usually be issued to landowners regarding trespassing stock, giving landowners 24 hours to remove them before further action was taken.
"There are some things we can all do better moving forward," he said.
Audience member and landowner Jim Crawford, of Lawrence, drew a round of applause when he quizzed panellists about their pest control efforts. Mr Crawford said he wanted forestry companies to take greater responsibility for pest control, as infiltration of pests such as pigs from neighbouring blocks was "costing farmers money".
In response, all panellists said their company exercised extensive pest control measures, exterminating "thousands" of pigs from Lawrence blocks each year.
Pest control was a collective responsibility, as pests were "wild animals" rather than forestry-owned stock, they said.
Similarly, establishing boundary fencing was a shared responsibility, although the cost of repairs fell to those causing damage.
Panellists acknowledged there were "legacy" issues with some boundary fencing and boundary-adjacent plantings in the district, and their companies were working to address these.
