The Communities of Jamestown and Wirrabara and affected neighbouring communities of Laura, Gladstone and Spalding will need to fight hard to save the forests at Bundaleer and Wirrabara, according to Northern Areas Council mayor Denis Clark. To that end a public forum will be held at the Jamestown Memorial Hall on October 22, 2014. Source: Clare Northern Argus
“Our communities need to really show the State Government just how important the Bundaleer and Wirrabara forests are to the region,” Mayor Clark said.
He urged as many people as possible to attend the public forum being hosted by Minister of Forests Leon Bignell on October 22 at 4pm in the Jamestown Town Hall.
“The forests are hugely significant to our regional community,” Mayor Clark said.
“We need to ensure the government realise we are very concerned about the potential for our forests to be turned into national parks, which if not managed appropriately may be filled with vermin and weeds, becoming a significant fire hazard.”
Mayor Clark said the Northern Areas Council had been lobbying the State Government regarding the future of forestry in the Mid North, since the unfortunate events of the Bangor Bushfire.
In recent times, this has been further emphasised with the release of an independent report commissioned by Forestry SA. The report, Strategic Directions for Mid North Pine Plantation Estate, claims that the Bundaleer and Wirrabara plantations would be unviable financially following damages from the Bundaleer (2013) and Bangor fires (2014).
However to quote the report “It should be noted that the relevant specific strategic commercial directions of the Forestry SA Charter were referenced when formulating scenarios for evaluation and providing a recommendation.”
In essence the viability is questioned in relation to the Forestry SA Charter as opposed to an overall financial impact on the South Australian Government.
Mayor Clark noted that the report does not best examine the role the timber industry plays within the local economy.
“Morgan Sawmill at Jamestown has annual impact of some 9.4 million dollars in Gross Regional Product and it contributes to the employment of more than 100 people (49 of whom are directly employed by the Morgan Family), with workers also based in many of the surrounding Mid North Communities such as Gladstone, Laura, Wirrabara and Spalding” he said.
“The flow on effect and resulting economic slow down caused through losing our forestry industry would be enormous.
“Through replanting the State Government would gain further return on their investment over the long term through existing mechanisms such as Payroll Tax and GST.
“It would hit our local businesses and local community groups very hard. It’s important that the community speak up loudly and let the State Government know this isn’t a simple matter of short term expenditure, it’s about people’s livelihoods and about sustainable outcomes for regional communities.”
Mayor Clark said that whilst tourism could be a complementary industry for the forests, the concept of replacing the $9.4 million in Gross Regional Product generated by the forestry industry with tourism alone was somewhat unrealistic.
Mayor Clark said he was concerned that the State Government may not have adequately invested in the region’s forests to ensure their long-term success.
“I’ve been driving past the Bundaleer Forest for 50 years and there is no doubting it has deteriorated over time,” he said. “It appears as though there may not have been enough effort put into keeping it staffed appropriately and for keeping up basic operations like thinning of trees to make it viable.”
Bundaleer Forest is located in the Northern Areas Council and the Wirrabara Forest is in the District Council of Mount Remarkable.
The public forum will be held at the Jamestown Memorial Hall at 4.00pm on Wednesday October 22, 2014.
Attendance can be registered at: http://midnorthplanningforthefuture.eventbrite.com.au
The independent report Strategic Directions for Mid North Pine Plantation Estate is available to read and download through the publications section of ForestrySA’s website www.forestrysa.com.au/publications
