22
March 2022
Page
No.
Karakia
and Mihi Timatanga
1. Apologies
Nil
2. Confirmation
of Order of Business
3. Interests
3.1 Updates
to the Interests Register
3.2 Identify
any conflicts of interest in the agenda
4. Public
Forum
5. Confirmation
of Minutes
5.1 1
December 2021 4 - 7
Document number M19127
Recommendation
|
That the Forestry Subcommittee
1. Confirms the minutes of the meeting
of the Forestry Subcommittee, held on 1 December 2021, as a true and correct
record.
|
6. Chairperson's Report
7. Forestry Update -
Number 18 8 - 22
Document number R26482
Recommendation
|
That the Forestry Subcommittee
Receives the report (R26482)
and its attachments (A2853830, A2853822 and
A2823832).
|
Karakia
Whakamutanga
Present: Mr
J Murray (Chairperson), Her Worship the Mayor R Reese, Councillors K Fulton and
T Skinner, Independent Forestry Expert P Gorman and Group Manager
Infrastructure A Louverdis
In Attendance: PF Olsen representative (S Nuske),
LandVision Limited representative (L Grant), Governance Adviser (K Redgrove)
and Governance Support Officer (A Bryce-Neumann)
Apologies : Councillor
K Fulton (for lateness)
1. Apologies
|
Resolved FS/2021/009
|
|
|
That the Forestry Subcommittee
1. Receives
and accepts the apology from Councillor Fulton for lateness.
|
|
Murray/Her Worship the Mayor Carried
|
2. Confirmation of
Order of Business
There was no change to the order
of business.
3. Interests
There were no updates to the
Interests Register, and no interests with items on the agenda were declared.
4. Public Forum
There was no public forum.
5. Confirmation of
Minutes
5.1 29
September 2021
Document number M18974, agenda
pages 5 - 7 refer.
|
Resolved FS/2021/010
|
|
|
That the Forestry
Subcommittee
1. Confirms
the minutes of the meeting of the Forestry Subcommittee, held on 29 September
2021, as a true and correct record.
|
|
Skinner/Her Worship the Mayor Carried
|
6. Chairperson's Report
There was no Chairperson’s
report for this meeting.
7. Forestry High-level
Review – Costs
Document number R26263, agenda
pages 8 – 13 refer.
Group Manager Infrastructure,
Alec Louverdis, presented the report and confirmed its purpose was to
give effect to the Council resolution of 24 June 2021. There were two
proposed workstreams that he considered would achieve that.
He explained that the outcomes
from both those workstreams would be independently peer reviewed and confirmed
those independent parties had already been contacted and were
available. He considered the process outlined in the report offered
the best value for money, with checks and balances in place to ensure transparency
and independence.
He confirmed that the outcomes
from the proposed workstreams would be reported back to the Subcommittee to
guide the next Forestry Activity Management Plan and the Long Term
Plan.
In the meantime, forestry blocks
would continue to be harvested and replanted with pinus radiata.
Mr Louverdis noted that the
reports would address effects on the supply chain climate leadership.
Attendance: Cr Fulton joined the
meeting at 1.30 pm.
|
Resolved FS/2021/011
|
|
|
That the Forestry Subcommittee
1. Receives the report (R26274);
and
2. Endorses
the recommended approach as detailed in report (R26263) to fulfil the
requirements of the high-level forestry review requested by Council;
and
3. Approves
the next steps of appointing the suite of consultants (along with independent
peer reviews), as detailed in Report (R26263), to undertake a high-level
review of commercial forestry at an estimated cost of $73,500 (excluding peer
reviews).
|
|
Skinner/Her Worship the Mayor Carried
|
8. Forestry Activity
Management Plan 2021-31
Document number R22592, agenda
pages 14 - 63 refer.
Mr Louverdis described the
recommendation as a procedural step towards referral to Council and highlighted
items had recently been added to the Plan.
The Subcommittee agreed to include
the 17 November 2021 resolution with respect to the Emissions Trading Scheme
and eligible Council owned and managed land, including exotic forestry.
|
Resolved FS/2021/012
|
|
|
That
the Forestry Subcommittee
1. Receives the report
Forestry Activity Management Plan 2021-31 (R22592) and its Attachment (A2072414); and
2. Approves
the Forestry Activity Management Plan 2021-31 (A2072414) as the version to be
forwarded to Council following approval of the Long-Term Plan 2021-31, subject
to the minor amendment as noted in the minutes.
|
|
Her Worship the Mayor/Fulton Carried
|
|
Recommendation to Council FS/2021/013
|
|
|
That Council
1. Adopts
the revised Forestry Activity Management Plan 2021-31 (A2072414).
|
|
Her Worship the Mayor/Fulton Carried
|
9. Forestry Update -
Number 17
Document number R26274, agenda
pages 64 - 82 refer.
The meeting
adjourned at 2.18 am and reconvened at 2.27 pm.
Mr Louverdis introduced the
report. Sub-Committee members were pleased to note the Maitai bridge has
been completed and noted the Roding bridge work will start once necessary
consents had been granted.
Mr Nuske answered questions
relating to consenting timeframes which had been delayed and had caused
additional costs.
The meeting was provided with an
update on the Marsden harvesting noting that the harvest would be delayed until
mid February 2022, with limited access over the Christmas break.
He reported delays in health,
safety and recreational considerations applicable to the Marsden forestry block
had meant harvest crews were currently ‘parked up
idle’. Mr Louverdis confirmed he would make enquiries of the
Group Manager Environmental Management and bring back responses to this
Sub-Committee.
LandVision Limited representative
Lachie Grant provided an overview of the programmed planting. In
response to a question raised, he clarified that the terminology
‘native’ was more commonly used in the industry than ‘indigeneous’.
|
Resolved FS/2021/014
|
|
|
That the Forestry
Subcommittee
1. Receives the report (R26274)
and its Attachments (A2779103, A2762279, A2788214 and A2783310).
|
|
Skinner/Murray Carried
|
There being no further business the meeting ended at 2.53
pm.
Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings by
resolution on (date)
|
|
Forestry Subcommittee
22 March 2022
|
REPORT R26482
Forestry
Update - Number 18
1. Purpose
of Report
1.1 To
provide an update to the Forestry Subcommittee on forestry activities
undertaken since Council adopted the Forestry Review recommendations in
September 2016, and since the December 2021 update.
2. Recommendation
|
That
the Forestry Subcommittee
1. Receives
the report Forestry Update - Number 18 (R26482) and its attachments
(A2853830, A2853822 and A2823832).
|
3. Harvesting
Bridges
3.1 Roding
bridge – work is about to commence.
Maitai harvesting
3.2 Harvesting
in the Maitai Valley is well underway and progressing well.
Marsden Harvesting
3.3 Harvesting
of Block 42.05 (around 15Ha) has commenced, with all slips
remediated.
4. Tasman
Pine Forests and Waahi Taakaro harvesting
4.1 When
Tasman Pine Forests Ltd harvest the block adjacent to the Waahi Taakaro Golf
Club, the work will also include harvesting the small area planted by them on
Council land. When this work is undertaken, PF Olsen will monitor the work to
ensure that the trees on Council owned land are harvested to the required
standards. The small area will be replanted with indigenous species. No date
has been provided by Tasman Pine Forests for the harvesting.
5. Health
and Safety
5.1 No
Safe Work Observations (SWOs) were conducted by NCC between September and
December. PF Olsen continue to undertake regular internal SWOs.
6. Other
matters
Ungulate control
6.1 An
issue was raised at the previous meeting about the negative effect ungulates
(deer, goat, and pigs) are having on new forestry plantings with more activity
been recorded of late. Culling of ungulates is managed by Department of
Conservation on their land and through contract on Council land (managed by
Parks and Reserves).
6.2 Results
from the most recent cull (September 2021) report a total kill of 82 ungulates
(46 goats, 29 deer and 7 pigs). This is down from previous years (181 in 2018,
169 in 2019 and 126 in 2020). Work in ongoing across all departments to ensure
that culling numbers are maximised not only for the commercial forestry but
also to ensure numbers are maximised in the city’s water catchments and
across all Council reserves.
Forestry High-Level Review
6.3 All
consultants have been appointed (and peer reviewers notified and confirmed) to
progress the work to guide the high-level review. All work, once peer reviewed,
will be presented to the Subcommittee as a package to guide development of the
Forestry Activity Management Plan.
Consenting delays
6.4 The
Subcommittee at the December 2021 meeting requested an update as to the reasons
for delays in securing consents for forestry works. The Group Manager
Environmental Management has advised as below.
As has
been signalled to ARF the issues with staff retention and ability to recruit
are now impacting timeframes. Both Teams are working hard in difficult
circumstances, staff down, complex consenting issues, input from other internal
staff taking time as they too are stretched, remote working, and difficulty finding
consultants who are available to assist e.g. I heard today that geo-technical
consultants have workloads that mean new work cannot start for 6 months.
Planners in particular are in high demand and have been recruited into roles by
others e.g. Government Departments who pay significantly more than we
can. Loss of staff by local authorities is a nationwide issue, as is the
issue of not meeting timeframes.
Carbon Credit Potential from
Council Indigenous Forests
6.5 Council
resolved on 17 November 2021 as follows:
2. Agrees
to undertake a detailed assessment of all Council land under ownership and
management for eligibility in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS); and
3. Requests
that eligible Council owned and managed land (including exotic forestry) be
registered into the Emissions Trading Scheme before 1 April 2022.
6.6 Updates
on this matter will be reported to both this Subcommittee and Council.
6.7 Council
has engaged PF Olsen to do the detailed eligibility assessment (assisted by the
1989 aerial photography held by Council) and to manage the registration process
as Council’s authorised representative.
6.8 While
the application for the exotic forest area is expected to be submitted to MPI
before 1 April 2022, its registration will be after this date because of the
backlog of applications. The approximate timeframe is as below:
6.8.1 Submission
of the exotic forest application by PF Olsen in Feb/March 2022;
6.8.2 MPI
to process the application and register by September/October 2022 (MPI has
advised that applications can take up to 6 months to process).
6.9 Gathering
evidence for the eligibility of the indigenous forest areas is more complex and
likely to take longer for MPI to process. It will be submitted as a separate
application so that it does not delay the registration of the exotic
forest.
6.10 PF
Olsen’s engagement for the commercial forestry part of this work is
$2,500.
7. Finance
7.1 An updated summary of Council budgets to December 2021 is
appended as Attachment 1 (A2853830). PF Olsen’s quarterly report October – December
2021 is appended as Attachment 2 (A2853822).
8. Alternate
Uses
8.1 Council agreed to retire approximately
140Ha of forestry and consider alternate uses and an Alternate Use Plan has
been approved. Refer to Attachment 3 (A2853832) for an update. Lachie Grant
(Landvision) will be in attendance to update the Subcommittee further.
Author: Alec
Louverdis, Group Manager Infrastructure
Attachments
Attachment 1: A2853830
- Forestry Quarterly Report December 2021 ⇩
Attachment 2: A2853822
- PF Olsen NCC Quarterly Report - Q2 - 2021-22 ⇩
Attachment 3: A2853832
- Alternate Use Plan ⇩
|
Important considerations for decision making
|
|
1.
Fit with Purpose of Local Government
The regular updates support the effective and
efficient management of Council’s productive forests and through best
practices and sustainability contributes to Local Government well-beings of
social, economic, environmental, and cultural.
|
|
2.
Consistency with Community Outcomes and Council Policy
The Group aligns with the following outcome:
“Our Council provides leadership and is supported by an innovative and
sustainable economy”.
|
|
3. Risk
The Subcommittee has been set up to specifically
have an oversight on all things relating to forestry to reduce the risk to
Council. Key risks identified in this report relate to harvesting in the
Brook and Maitai, which are adequately mitigated by planned safety measures.
|
|
4.
Financial impact
The Subcommittee has been set up to monitor
forestry activity and to manage income and expenses accordingly. Any
expenditure recommended in this report is in line with this oversight.
|
|
5.
Degree of significance and level of engagement
The report deals with several matters that have
required individual engagement with individuals/groups.
|
|
6.
Climate Impact
Commercial pine forestry and harvesting is a
sustainable practice and contributes positively to climate change
mitigation.
|
|
7.
Inclusion of Māori in the decision-making process
Iwi have not been consulted in the preparation of
this report.
|
|
8.
Delegations
The Forestry Subcommittee’s areas of
responsibility include:
Areas of Responsibility:
· All matters relating to the commercial forestry
operational portfolio including environmental and recreational issues
Powers to Decide:
· In accordance with Council’s Annual Plan and
Long-Term Plan:
o Approval of forestry and harvesting management
strategy and plans
o Approval of the
engagement of contractors/consultants and forestry tenders
|
