Southern North Island Wood Council Priorities
To demonstrate the benefits of membership, the priorities for the Wood Council are:
1. To ensure the benefits of best forest management Health & Safety practices are relayed to members and the general public by promoting the Wood Council's Health & Safety policy.
The first part of this process is to establish and appropriately manage a Drug & Alcohol testing database, similar to that run in Eastland
Progress to date:
The database has been established and a number of companies have provided information. 42 names of people who have failed Drug tests are on this register.
A contractor has been retained to manage the database and respond to queries.
2. To ensure the rights of forest owners are properly considered in Local and Regional Government planning cycles.
Progress to date:
The Wood Council has been recognised as an interested party for both the Taranaki and the Greater Wellington Regional Plans. We attended the first procedural Hearing for the GW Plan. The Council has now accepted that forestry is an important industry in the Region
3. To champion the cause of the Timber Industry in the SNI region to the wider community, promoting it as a successful, safe and environmentally beneficial industry that contributes to economic prosperity by taking a proactive role in improving the region’s perception of the industry.
Progress to date:
We gave a presentation to the National Party's Agricultural Caucus on forestry in this region. We concentrated on safety as well as regional employment and opportunities. Good discussion resulted and common ground was found with MP's from other regions.
The first celebration of excellence via an Awards Evening was held on 26th May 2017.
The next Awards event will be on Friday 11th May 2018.
4. To demonstrate the diverse, challenging and rewarding benefits available from careers in the forest industry at all levels by taking a proactive role in supporting and influencing industry employment and quality training in the region.
Progress to date:
Contacts have been made with the local Competenz manager to float & progress ideas.
Board members have talked to various High Schools, and some members have been involved in the Gateway Programme.
Careers information is available from any Wood Council member or from the links available on the Careers Page of this web site.
5. To provide a centralised point for information on forest protection activities, such as for Biosecurity incursions & fire.
Progress to date:
We organised a National Biosecurity Capability workshop in November 2015. The PineNet newsletters are distributed to members.
We represented Forest managers and the small forest owners at a workshop convened by FENZ in February 2017 to discuss the forthcoming legislation changes.
