65 jobs go in closure of sawmill

Sixty-five jobs have been lost with the closure of the Waverley Sawmills.

The sawmill, which had traded since at least 1932 and was the town’s biggest employer, had been sold and the new owner decided it was no longer viable, South Taranaki District Mayor Ross Dunlop said. ‘‘It’s been a very valuable business in our district and has employed lots of people. It’s pretty sad and very tough on the staff and management.’’

Export log prices were very high at present, making it difficult for local sawmills to compete, he said. ‘‘I have spoken with the new owner and encouraged him to continue operating it but in their opinion it’s not viable to do that, unfortunately.’’

Two or three weeks ago Dunlop had heard that a local buyer was interested in buying the mill and continuing to operate it.

‘‘I’d hoped that would be the outcome but unfortunately not,’’ he said. ‘‘There is a very high resource of forests in the South Taranaki and Whanganui area and the new owner did talk about there being an opportunity for a new sawmill, but it would require a large capital injection to build an updated, modern sawmill that could compete.

‘‘There is interest in doing that, but not overnight,’’ he said.

The buyer was Wade Glass, the Whanganui Chronicle reported.

Glass is the managing director of Far East Sawmills, which owns the Tregoweth Sawmill in Te Kuiti, forests in Northland, a forestry harvest company and a transport fleet.

Attempts to contact Glass yesterday were unsuccessful.

Most of the staff at Waverley Sawmills finished up on Friday.

A skeleton crew would stay on for the next few weeks to sell the remaining stock, a source who did not want to be named, said.

‘‘It’s pretty tough, it’s the end of an era.’’

The workers were told about the possible closure about eight weeks ago, and encouraged to seek jobs elsewhere.

A number of those who had lost their jobs were former prisoners employed after their success on pre-release courses at the mill in co-operation with the Department of Corrections.

Several dozen prisoners and former prisoners had worked at the mill over the years.

‘‘Some of the guys have been very good workers. We’d give them a chance. That worked out for a lot of them,’’ the source said. ‘‘It’s a kick in the guts, really.’’ The mill needed a new kiln in order to increase its capacity to compete in a volume-driven market.

‘‘We did have a growth plan that involved increased production, but it would have required a capital injection for a new kiln, and there was no appetite for it.’’

Brent Dallison, owner of Dallison and Sons, another longstanding Waverley business, said the closure would affect the whole community, including transport companies, builders and farmers.

‘‘Every business here will feel it, directly and indirectly, there’s going to be a big ripple effect,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m involved with the rugby club and a good percentage of players in our B team are mill workers. Over the years they have really helped us out. When we had Fijians here, they employed people so they could play for us, basically.’’

Steve Dowman, of Waverley Foursquare, said the effect of the closure went well beyond the staff.

‘‘You can’t lose 65 jobs and not feel an effect in all the businesses in town.’’