Bega Valley Mayor’s plan to increase native forest logging

Just weeks after the end of native forest logging in Victoria, the Mayor of the Bega Valley will move a motion in the local council on Wednesday to make private land logging easier.

The mayor’s motion would amend the Bega Local Environmental Plan 2013 to make Private Native Forestry permitted without consent in Zone RU2 – Rural Landscape.

The logging industry is claiming “credit” for the mayor’s move.  

Spokesperson for South East Region Conservation Alliance (SERCA), Harriett Swift said:

“This is a not- very- subtle attempt to increase log supplies to the woodchip mill following the end of native forest logging in Victoria on 1 January.”

Historically, Victorian forests have supplied a significant proportion of logs to the chipmill, with Pentarch Manager Malcolm McComb recently claiming that 50 percent of inputs to the chipmill came from Victoria.

Ms Swift said that intensive logging for export woodchips is a massive carbon dioxide emitter[1], with emissions in NSW exceeding those of 840,000 cars in a year.[2]

“Logging also destroys habitat for endangered forest dwelling wildlife such as the Greater Glider, much in the news recently.

“Increased bushfire risk and severity[3] are another all too familiar consequence of native forest logging.”

“The mayor is making wildly optimistic and inaccurate claims about employment and economic benefits in support of his motion.

“The reality is that direct employment in logging is less than 1% of the Bega Valley workforce and there are more jobs in the arts and recreation than there are in logging.[4]”

“Far from being an economic asset to the region, without  massive taxpayer subsidies it would have gone years ago,” according to David Gallan, on behalf of the National Parks Association.

“Councillors should know better than anyone about the cost of repairing damage by heavy log trucks and machinery to roads and bridges and, of course, the exemption from Local Government rates on “production forests” for the Forestry Corporation.

Bega Valley ratepayers subsidise the Forestry Corporation millions of dollars each year as a result of this exemption.”

A combination of all these factors has meant that native forest logging has lost its social license.

“Poll after poll[5] - even those conducted by the industry itself show that a clear majority of Australians want to see an end to native forest logging. Even those living in rural areas like ours want to see it end and it would be a huge embarrassment if the Bega Valley increases native forest logging at a time when other governments in Australia and around the word are stopping it.

19 February 2024

Contact: Harriett Swift