Latest news with #WaimataValley
RNZ News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Emissions Trading Scheme incentivising whole farm conversions into forestry, farmers say
Pine forestry harvesting in Waimata Valley near Gisborne. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook Federated Farmers is urging the government to listen to its submission on legislation that looks to prevent whole-farm conversions into forestry. The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme-Forestry Conversion) Amendment Bill had its first reading in June and a number of submissions were heard in a parliamentary select committee on Tuesday. Federated Farmers Forestry spokesperson Richard Dawkins told RNZ the future of rural communities was at stake if the government did not take this opportunity to make serious changes to the ETS. "The logic is clear. We just can't continue to undermine our productive sector or we're never gonna get ahead as a country," he said. Dawkins said Federated Farmers had no issue with forestry, but with the current ETS settings. "There's no problem with the right tree in the right place. "We encourage that, but with the way the ETS settings are at the moment, you're just incentivising whole farm conversions into permanent exotics and that, it's just no good, no good for anyone," he said. Gisborne farmer and former Federated Farmers forestry spokesperson Toby Williams told RNZ the campaign was launched out of widespread concern for the increase in productive farm land being planted in pine trees. "We're really concerned that the continuing government policy looks to drive down the available land for sheep production. "We already know that our meat processors are struggling and we want to ensure that we actually have an industry still that can play its part in thriving rural communities, but also a thriving New Zealand and driving our export returns," he said. Federated Farmers have put up a billboard in Wellington claiming "sheep are not the problem". Photo: Supplied The Ministry for Primary Industries had a goal of doubling primary sector exports by 2035, but Williams said the sheep flock was declining. "Shrinking the sheep flock and shrinking the area that we farm sheep on isn't a great way to drive that forward," he said. Federated Farmers wants the government's review of the ETS to make two key changes - reducing the amount of emissions that large polluters can offset with trees, and capping the number of pine tree credits entered into the ETS. "We'd like to see a sinking lid on how many offsets a polluter could do every year. For example, we'd say in 2025 this year you could do 100 percent, but next year it drops to 95 into 9085 and so on," he said. The farming group was also keen to cap how many pine tree credits a polluter could enter into the ETS. "That will also have the same effect of slowing conversions of sheep and beef land into pine trees just for carbon offsets, and it will bring some actual balance," he said. Williams said if nothing changed with the ETS, then in 25 years time about 750,000 hectares of sheep producing land would be turned into pine trees. Gisborne farmer and former Federated Farmers forestry spokesperson Toby Williams. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham Forestry Owners Association chief executive Elizabeth Heeg told RNZ it was not impressed with the Federated Farmers campaign targeting forestry. "We are disappointed that trees, and particularly pine trees, are being singled out as being the primary cause of some kind of a decline in the sheep numbers where actually we are not the correlation or the cause of the decline in sheep numbers. "Sheep numbers have been declining over the past 20 years and the forestry area has just started to come back in the last few years. So we are actually at a position at the national level of the same amount of forestry land area that we had 20 years ago," she said. While Heeg agrees that land use had changed over the past 20 years, she said it was more complicated than blaming it on forestry. "We're not seeing some kind of exponential growth in forestry planting. Actually, we did have an increase in forestry planting in the last couple of years, but we're seeing that largely kind of plateau at this stage," said Heeg. The group was alarmed by Federated Farmers idea of a 'sinking lid' policy on how many trees a polluter could plant to offset its emissions. "We would be deeply concerned if the government looked to take forestry out of the emissions trading scheme, because trees are still the only proven mitigation technology that we have. "I find it interesting that farmers would be asking for that when it's one of the chief ways that they could mitigate their climate emissions. So the inclusion or not of trees in the Emissions Trading Scheme, I feel like that horse has already bolted," said Heeg. The Forestry Owners Association says forestry is not the problem. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook The association was strongly against phasing forestry out of the ETS, instead urging more action from polluters . "I think it's nuts that we would get rid of our only proven mitigation tool rather than look at achieving gross emissions reductions. "It's a little bananas that when the rural sector needs as much support as possible, that we've got people pitting elements of the sector against itself when actually a lot of farmers are foresters as well and they're happily doing both in the landscape," she said. However, Federated Farmers said its members were definitely not happy - and wanted to see more action from the government. "We want to see an urgent review of the ETS as the government has held off doing it. There have been tweaks over the years, but that's it. "We're not the only organisation calling for changes to how we're doing this because of the threat to our economy," said Toby Williams. Minister for Forestry Todd McClay said the Federated Farmers' Save Our Sheep campaign highlighted exactly why his government was taking action to stop the wholesale loss of productive farmland to pine trees. "Under the last government, sheep and beef farms across regions like Hawke's Bay were bought out by carbon speculators, driven by careless and unbalanced ETS settings. Labour made it more profitable to plant pine trees than to farm sheep - and rural communities paid the price," said McClay. Minister for Forestry Todd McClay. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver However, Labour Party forestry spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel said this was not a matter of sheep and beef farming versus forestry. "It's a matter of striking the right balance between industry growth and environmental protection. Labour has always believed the right tree should be planted in the right place - anything to the contrary is scaremongering. "This government has taken nearly two years to do anything about this. Labour were the ones with policy that put decision-making back into local hands on farm to forestry conversions and we are committed to finding long-term, locally-led, sustainable solutions," she said. Todd McClay said his government was moving forward on the issue. "On 4 December last year, we announced a ban on full farm-to-forest conversions, and legislation will be passed by October this year and backdated to that announcement - stopping blanket ETS planting on productive farmland and giving sheep and beef farmers a fair go," he said. However, McClay said the ETS was not the only challenge the sheep sector faced, as the wool industry had struggled - which is why he was supporting the sector by using wool in government buildings and housing, and investing in new uses through public-private partnerships. "We're not anti-forestry, but it can't come at the expense of highly-quality, safe and sustainable food production. We're levelling the playing field and backing farmers to grow the best lamb and mutton in the world - and sell it to the world," said McClay. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
07-06-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Gisborne truck route to quieten as council changes permits
The council added new maps to the New Zealand Transport Agency's (NZTA) 'H' permit system in July 2024, excluding Back Ormond and Ormond Roads, which is a main route for logging trucks to get to the port. Photo: Supplied / Paul Rickard A truck route "in a constant state of deterioration" might become a lot quieter after a Gisborne District Council decision regarding heavy vehicle permits. During council meetings last year, councillors and community members raised safety concerns around trucks travelling along Back Ormond and Ormond Roads. A man who drove daily along Ormond Road to and from work said he had seen too many "near-misses" involving schoolchildren. In July, the council added new maps to the Transport Agency's (NZTA) "H" permit system, which exclude Back Ormond and Ormond Roads. Trucks that carry over 44 tonnes require "H" permits to be driven on roads. These permits were valid for up to 24 months, a council Regional Transport Committee report said. Once these expired, it would be "a decision of Council whether to continue or not". "Over the coming year or so, trucks should stop using this route," the report said. Eastland Wood Council chairman Julian Kohn said the concern was over traffic coming out of the Waimata Valley and Ormond area. "In the next 10-15 years, there's going to be a very significant increase in the volumes of wood coming out of our forests from the Waimata-Hokoroa-Tauwhareparae area, not only from wood council members, but from other forest owners." According to the report, the Ormond Road-Back Ormond Road route is "a local road which the council pays 32 percent towards maintaining and is in a constant state of deterioration because of heavy vehicle traffic". The report said traffic data captured at the port reflected the number of log trucks across the road network, which was 87 percent rural, most of which was built on "unstable ground, not built for heavy vehicles and sustained significant damage from weather events". It also said the number of heavy vehicles to support roading recovery after Cyclone Gabrielle had increased significantly since a 2017 freight report. The move regarding "H" permits on Ormond and Back Ormond Roads comes as the council looks to get safety work funding for "a preferred route" for heavy goods vehicles along State Highway 2 and SH35 (including Awapuni Road and Customhouse Street). The report said the council approved the route in 2020, provided NZTA made "appropriate safety improvements ... at key locations along the way". During consultation in 2020, the "preferred route" received 57 percent support. However, there were significant reasons given for supporting a dual route, such as limiting adverse effects on Kiwi Pools, Awapuni School and residents, beach and surf lifesaving clubs, sports facilities and the Oneroa walkway/cycleway, the report said. To date, NZTA had not allocated any funding for the safety improvements, so the council was working to secure the funding by using transport modelling to demonstrate potential increases and identify "priority safety improvements". No longer permitting heavy vehicle use of Ormond and Back Ormond Rds would allow the council to "monitor enforcement and the impact and use the data for modelling purposes". Safety issues identified in the preferred heavy vehicle route, which Gisborne District Council consulted on in 2022 and said it received "majority support". Photo: Supplied / Gisborne District Council Report According to the report, since 2019, the number of logging trucks to the port have averaged 800 a day (400 each way). In December last year, the port gained consent to build a twin berth and expects a 42 percent increase in freight movement. "With the port's ability to take logs more consistently with a twin berth by 2030, the number of logging truck movements on the region's network is going to increase from 800 daily average to a peak of 1250, a 56 percent increase." The port said in its Traffic around Eastland Port 2022 resource consent application brief that it did not anticipate a large increase in peak truck volumes, rather, more consistent volumes closer to peak, according to the report. No funding was set aside by NZTA in the 2024-27 National Land Transport Plan for Tāirawhiti state highways to improve road safety at the Hirini Street T-intersection to access Eastland Port, or any other safety upgrades required to safely implement the preferred route, the report said. Eastland Port supported NZTA and council upgrading Hirini Street. "They stated busier days could become more common and the congested periods could become longer before the intersection is upgraded." LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
