Tweed Shire Council has called on New South Wales State Environment Minister Rob Stokes to review logging licences in the Tweed Shire. Source: Northern Star
The council is aware of at least three property owners with Native Forestry approvals in the northern corridor from Mt Warning.
Councillor Katie Milne moved the motion, calling for licences to be given with council and community consent and comprehensive ecological and cultural studies.
Her biggest concern was logging licences given without obligatory ecological surveys.
“I don’t think there is any restriction (on licences),” she said. “It’s not a very open and transparent process. We could have hundreds of applications but the council is not notified,” she said.
But Timber NSW general manager Maree McCaskill said the timber industry in New South Wales already had the “toughest regulatory regime in the world”.
She said private landowners had the right to log if they met strict compliance criteria.
“People on private land, which they have bought for the purpose of conducting business for harvesting timber, is no different to someone running cattle and sheep,” she said.
Prominent Gold Coast developer John Fish has a logging licence in Tyalgum and said council involvement was “unwarranted”.
He supported the council’s resolution provided it was to prevent visual impact on the escarpment and scenic rim.
“Licences are highly regulated and our reporting conditions are already quite onerous,” he said.
