Here's some good news, we've finally got some new rules around forestry slash that might actually make a difference to places like Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay, which have been absolutely pounded by logs in Cyclone Gabrielle.

The rules are kicking in very soon- just 4 weeks’ time. And they will require forestry owners to remove their slash if it’s over a certain size, and it’s not particularly large.

Anything with a diameter of more than 10 centimetres and a length of more than 2 meters has gotta go. It can't be left behind to wash down and smash up bridges and houses.

Removing it will be expensive though; there is no doubt about that.

It will be so expensive that it will make it too expensive to plant some of that steep land. Which is great, it’s what we want, because that land shouldn’t be planted in pine anyway.

I cry absolutely no tears for the forestry owners who are whingeing about this today, because they have not done their bit for their communities. 

You take a look at that photo of Waikare beach halfway between Napier and Wairoa which popped up a couple of days ago.

That beach is covered in logs. None of the forestry guys have cleaned it up, it’s been that way since February 14. The logs destroyed the DoC campsite, and none of the forestry guys have cleaned it up.

These guys have made huge bucks off New Zealand- and broken our stuff as they made their money.

Now, I'm not naïve. I know that these rules will probably create as many problems as they solve. But we needed to start somewhere.

And here’s another bonus, just the threat of these rules has already stopped the sale of land for forestry. How good is that? It’s shocked that industry so badly that the sales have come to a shuddering halt. 

Which is good, because fewer pines means less slash for us to clean up.

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