Storm aftermath in court

Forestry companies are facing legal action after a wall of timber washed into the Gisborne district during bad weather in June. Wigan bridge, pictured, in Tolaga Bay was inundated with logs after the storm. Following investigations into damage in the area, the Gisborne District Council has started prosecutions against ‘‘a number of parties’’ under the Resource Management Act. The prosecutions relate to six different forests in the Gisborne region, including three near Tolaga Bay. The prosecutions are due to begin in the New Year. Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said there would be no comment while the matters were before the courts. The forestry slash – scrap timber, branches and off cuts left behind in a felling area – crashed through houses near Tolaga Bay over Queen’s Birthday weekend, with an estimated 1 million tonnes of debris swept on to properties. At least three houses were lost. Stock was also lost and bridges were damaged, paddocks were drowned in mud and debris and kilometres of fences were damaged. Farmers estimate the damage runs into the millions of dollars. In August, the council issued abatement notices to a number of the forestry companies in the Tolaga Bay catchment. Those abatement notices required companies to cease actions contravening their resource consent conditions relating to forestry debris, skid sites, erosion risk and sediment control.