Farman Turkington Forestry Ltd, AM Forest Harvesting Ltd and the company directors (Guy Farman, Michael Johnstone and Anthony Johnstone) have been convicted and fined for damaging a tributary of the Taueru River and discharging sediment during a forestry harvesting operation on the Cleaver Forest Block, Masterton, New Zealand. Source: Scoop New Zealand
Greater Wellington Regional Council laid a total of 25 charges against the operators almost a year ago, in June 2019. The case was concluded in Wellington District Court with a fines for each of the companies.
The starting point for fines was NZ$130,000; Judge Thompson allowed discounts from that for early guilty pleas and previous good behaviour. This resulted in fines of NZ$51,000 for Farman Turkington Ltd and NZ$25,800 for AM Forest Harvesting Ltd.
It was determined that National Environmental Standards for Forestry had been breached and the operation was undertaken without a resource consent.
The effects of this type of works and the resulting sediment discharges are; damage to the instream habitat for aquatic life and direct effects on water quality downstream during the period of discharges.
The issues with the operation were put down to poor planning and management of the site. Since the incident all defendants have put efforts into remediating the damage done and improving their environmental performance.
They cooperated with the council investigation and recognised that they needed to do better. In recognition of the individuals’ (Guy Farman, Michael Johnstone and Anthony Johnstone) cooperation and good character, the Judge granted discharges without conviction. He directed they each should pay NZ$5000 as a contribution to the council’s costs in properly bringing a prosecution.
“It is important that operators engage properly with the council and seek resource consents where appropriate,” said council Environmental Regulation Team Leader, James Snowdon.
“Professional operators should plan carefully and if they don’t understand the regulatory requirements, seek advice. We would rather be advising people on how to minimise their impact on the environment than taking them to court.”
