Gisborne District Council Has Asked A Judge To Fine A Forestry Company $84,000 After They Showed A “High Level Of Carelessness”

Gisborne District Council has asked a judge to fine a forestry company $84,000 after they showed a “high level of carelessness”. The council says the company used of heavy machinery in streambeds leaving slash and debris on steep and erosion-prone slopes in Gisborne. Forwood Forest Management Ltd pleaded guilty to 11 charges laid by Gisborne District Council for breaches of the Resource Management Act resulting from offending that occurred between December 2021 and June 2022. Council officers visited the forest four times in 2021 and told Forwood director Matthew Strijbosch that they had concerns around general poor practice, including the large amount of slash left on slopes that were susceptible to rain flow. The offending included the unlawful construction of poorly built roads and a stream crossing in the bed of the Mangaruaki Stream.