Forestry in candidates’ sights

Marlborough’s mayoral and Sounds ward candidates put their greenest foot forward at a pre-election debate as environmental issues dominated.

The candidate meeting at the Havelock Town Hall on Wednesday, hosted by the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce and the Marlborough Express, drew an audience of about 50.

Ward councillor David Oddie said the forestry industry needed to take a ‘‘serious look at itself’’ after an audience member asked why the Marlborough District Council hadn’t taken action against the practice of planting trees on roadside strips in the Sounds.

‘‘It just gets back to the endless encouragement from central government to plant forestry. That has got to change . . . but it’s been a slow road,’’ Oddie said.

‘‘They [the forestry industry] need to do their job properly. It shouldn’t be a plunder of trees 30 years later. It’s got to be done properly. Proper plantings, proper roads, proper water tables.’’

Oddie said the council’s new Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan, to be released later this year, would help to better address aspects of the forestry industry that the council could control.

Ward candidate Barbara Faulls recalled forestry being planted on her family’s land when she was a child, as it was then seen as a good economic decision.

‘‘When it was felled, it was clear-felled. My father would have turned in his grave if he’d seen the damage and destruction that was done to the land,’’ she said.

Faulls said she felt there were some ‘‘pretty loose practices’’ in the industry.

‘‘Forestry does bring huge economic benefits and jobs to the region, but we need to enforce how those trees are taken out of that land, and ensure they’re not taken out near seas, lakes or other bodies of water.’’

Candidates were also asked how the Government’s recent decision to turn aquaculture into a $3 billion industry by 2035 could affect Havelock.

Mayoral candidate Rick Ireland said that while the amount of business provided by the industry to Havelock was ‘‘astonishing’’, farms needed to move to the open ocean to improve the health of the Sounds.

Ward candidate Jane Briggs also supported salmon farming going to the open ocean, but said she was worried the split from Marlborough could allow the industry to be poached by other South Island regions, such as Southland.

Incumbent councillor Nadine Taylor said New Zealand King Salmon had told the council it wanted to move farms off-shore.

‘‘I’m not sure [open ocean] will have a huge impact on Havelock.’’

Mayoral candidate Jamie Arbuckle said he thought the future of aquaculture was off-shore, and that mussel and salmon farmers should be charged for water usage and monitoring.