Belmont logging beginning in November
Friday 26 October 2012, 3:52PM
By Greater Wellington Regional Council
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Contractors for the Greater Wellington Regional Council will soon begin logging a 24-hectare radiata pine plantation in Belmont Regional Park, if weather conditions and logging prices are favourable.
The 30-year-old pines are located at the head of the Korokoro Valley, at Belmont Regional Park’s Stratton Street entrance, and will be logged from November 2012 to May 2013.
Regional Council Western Principal Ranger, Wayne Boness, says that every effort has been made to minimise the impact of the logging operation. “We’ll keep as many tracks open around the site as is safe to do so, but there will be times when a track needs to be closed, so we’ll be keeping users informed with signage and through our website. At this stage the only tracks that will be closed for the entire operation are mountain biking tracks that run through or into the logging site, so we’ve been working with BAMBA [Belmont Area Mountain Biking Association] to provide alternative tracks.”
Wayne says that access to the site is limited so logging trucks will have to use Maungaraki’s main roads and Normandale’s Stratton Street. Transportation times will be restricted to reduce the impact on commuters, school-related traffic and pedestrians.
Environmental protection measures have been put in place for the operation, including silt traps to prevent sediment reaching Korokoro Stream.
Options for site reinstatement were the subject of a public drop-in meeting in October 2011, and the Regional Council asked for public feedback on this issue from September to December last year. Councillors will use this feedback to inform a decision on reinstatement later this year. They will also decide how any profit from the operation will be reinvested.
The Regional Council had planned to start the project a year ago but a combination of factors including weather, contractor availability and the importance of giving the community confidence that any concerns about the operation were addressed, made a late 2012 start date the best option.