Marlborough District Council Roading Assets - Activity Management Plan 2015 - 2018 SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.4.4.4 Forestry Forestry is another industry that has seen significant growth in the last decade. The movement of logs is heavily dependent on road transport. The forestry harvest in the Marlborough Region is expected to increase significantly once economic factors improve. The forestry sector in the region has reached a sustainable yield of 1,000,000 cubic metres of raw product per annum (to be carted over Council’s Roading Network), which is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. (Source: Merrill and Ring, Forestry Consultants/Farm Forestry Assn.) According to recent MAF forestry production statistics, Marlborough is the 9th largest forestry region in New Zealand. Forest blocks are generally located in the northern half of the Marlborough District with significant forests in the Wairau Valley (both sides of the Wairau River), the Rai Valley (both sides of SH 6), Para (between Blenheim and Picton), and in the Port Underwood area of the Marlborough Sounds. The majority of the timber is exported and is carted to Shakespeare Bay, Picton for shipping. Timber that is processed locally is treated at either Kaituna (adjacent to SH 6 just north of the Wairau River), in Blenheim at Flight Timber on Battys Road, or is carted to Nelson via SH 6. Council has effected satellite imagery, ground aging and validation of current forestry and utilises information from various consultants and forest owners to predict extraction dates and quantity. This extraction is now static. Sales are dependent on many factors including NZ currency, exchange rates, cash flow requirements for debt servicing, ruling world prices, etc, but is expected (plus or minus in particular years), to remain at a minimum of 500,000 tonnes per annum, for any particular year, in the foreseeable future. The impacts of this extraction and the roads to be affected have been included in deterioration models and they will require capital expenditure on both structural upgrading for loading (Area Wide Treatment and Rehabilitation), and road widening (seal widening) for capacity and safety reasons. Council does promote ‘barging’ where practical from remote ‘Sounds’ areas to reduce the impact on roads. A successful operation barging logs from the Port Underwood area to Shakespeare Bay has been completed that took considerable HCV traffic off the Port Underwood road. 1.4.4.5 Agriculture The requirement for land for vineyard development has seen a significant reduction in both pastoral and horticultural land use within Marlborough. Most remaining orchard and cropping land is located within the lower Wairau Valley. Dairy farming is mainly located within the Kaituna and Rai Valley areas whilst sheep and deer farming is generally confined to the upper Wairau Valley, upper Awatere Valley and south of Seddon. No growth is expected and allowance has been made for conversion to viticulture use. 1.4.4.6 Seafood and Aquaculture The Marlborough Sounds has a significant mussel farming industry with farms located throughout the Sounds. Harvested mussels are landed through Picton, Havelock or Elaine Bay (Croisilles/French Pass), and then transported to processing plants in Blenheim, Havelock and Nelson. Current production is around 90,000 tonnes per year but growth of up to 15% per year is anticipated especially when a number of applications for new farms are approved by the Environment Court. Marlborough currently produces > 90% of New Zealand’s green shell mussel exports. Salmon farming is also well established within the Sounds with current production of around 5,000 tonnes with expected growth of 19% per annum. 1.4.4.7 Salt Works and Other Industries The salt works at Lake Grassmere on the coast south of Seddon produces 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of salt per year predominately for the domestic markets. The majority of the harvested salt is transported to Picton for shipping. The Lake Grassmere works is New Zealand’s only salt producer. This production cartage is all via SH 1 (Grassmere to Picton) and has a minimal impact on the Marlborough District Council’s roading network. 30 September 2014 Page 20 of Section 1