Marlborough’s staunchest advocate for using wood in buildings has died in a New Zealand North Island car crash. Source: The Marlborough Express, Stuff.co.nz
Michael Cambridge, a Blenheim forester and wood advocate, was killed in a crash between Taupo and Rotorua.
Longtime friend and Marlborough Forest Association executive officer Ron Sutherland said Cambridge was one of the top people in New Zealand in terms of advocating for the use of wood.
“He really went out of his way to get himself informed about buildings and wood, not just in New Zealand, but also Europe and China,” he said.
Cambridge was in his second two-year term as president of the Marlborough Forest Association and had a good working relationship with scientists and engineers working at the University of Canterbury on wood and new wood systems.
“He was also very passionate about wood that came from Marlborough and new systems that were being developed for engineering wood products, particularly in Nelson,” said Sutherland.
“He was very forthcoming in letting people know that the wood industry, including all its facets, were an integral part of the economic community in Marlborough. Not just the people growing it, he was an advocate for the people who worked in forests and the sawmills and all the industries.”
Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman said Cambridge’s passionate advocacy made a great contribution to Marlborough. He supported the council’s landscape group and an advocate for the region’s timber and wood products sector, working alongside the council and forestry sector as part of the “Smart and Connected” economic development program.
