MDC looks for lead on forestry

The Marlborough District Council has put new rules for forestry on hold until the Government has completed national standards for the sector.

Council environmental policy manager Peri Hawes said there was no point in spending time, effort and money on drawing up new regulations for its updated Wairau Awatere and Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plans until the proposed standard had been finalised.

‘‘We need more certainty on what we can and can’t regulate for,’’ he said.

The proposed National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry would apply to all councils. Mr Hawes said with that as a starting point, councils could be more stringent with their own rules around issues including protecting heritage values, outstanding natural landscapes, nationally significant waterbodies and when indigenous vegetation was cleared. Soil erosion, water quality, flood hazard, wilding pines, risk to infrastructure and water yield would not be grounds for exceeding the standard, Mr Hawes said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry website reports the ministry is working with forestry stakeholders after a cost-benefit analysis revealed gaps in the data used in preparing the draft standard.

The ministry would redesign policies. Draft regulations would then be presented to the Cabinet for approval.

The proposed standard was released for consultation in September 2010. Submissions closed in October that year. A revised proposal was released for comment in May last year and 62 comments were received.