Milestone in jetty rebuild

In the early 1900s, settlers planted a eucalyptus forest on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula to help build jetties and other structures in the area.

More than 100 years later some of the now 40-metre tall trees are being cut down to rebuild the Governors Bay jetty.

The felling of about 30 eucalyptus trees from the privately owned 8-hectare forest near Little River marks an important milestone for the Governors Bay Jetty Restoration Trust, which has spent more than four years working on the jetty’s rebuild.

There was much excitement on Tuesday as trust members watched the trees come down.

‘‘It’s just an amazing sense of relief to see the felling physically starting,’’ trust chairman Simon Mortlock said at the forest.

Using local wood, which does not have to be treated, was not only an environmental win but has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars, Mortlock said. ‘‘We discovered this amazing opportunity through a Governors Bay local, who knew about the forest.’’

It was originally thought all the wood would have to be imported from Australia, but now only the piles need to be imported.

The timber would be taken to a sawmill in Loburn, north of Christchurch, where it would be turned into beams, planks and balustrades.

There were thousands of trees in the forest and the felling of about 30 would provide more light and help younger trees to grow, Mortlock said.

The trust planned to replace the trees by planting the ‘‘next generation jetty forest’.

The trust took over ownership of the damaged 300m jetty from the Christchurch City Council last month after the council decided in 2016 to sell it to the trust for $1. The trust, which suggested the move after hearing the council had no plans to repair the jetty, will restore the jetty and sell it back to the council for $1.

Mortlock said the council had estimated the jetty rebuild would cost $7.8 million, but the trust was confident it could do it for $2.7m.