The shortage of skilled labour is not the only difficulty facing the timber plantation industry in Western Australia.
The shortage of skilled labour is not the only difficulty facing the timber plantation industry in Western Australia.
Its rapid growth has also put substantial pressure on road and port infrastructure in the Great Southern and South West regions.
The industry is generally happy with the State Government’s efforts but is concerned about the quality of shire roads.
“The problem is with local roads and the lack of funding they get,” Timbercorp general manager forestry Tim Browning said.
He said community groups and local councils seemed to be much more critical of timber trucks than they were of other heavy trucks carrying farm produce or other goods.
“There is enormous inequality between what different industries and different land users are required to contribute.”
Timbercorp had done a lot to try and address concerns, Mr Browning said, including installing systems on its trucks that could adjust tyre pressure as the vehicles moved from major roads to dirt roads.
He said the large number of small local authorities Timbercorp had to deal with across the region was a big complication for the company.
Forest Industries Federation executive director Bob Pearce echoed Mr Browning’s concern about local roads, but said there were some other issues.
“The South West Highway, especially south of Donnybook, continues to be a problem,” Mr Pearce said.
He added that the industry was keen to see work get under way on the long-planned port access road at Bunbury.
A major current issue at Bunbury is the plan for coal exporters to use the same berth as woodchip exporter Hansol, which is concerned that its product will be contaminated by coal dust.
Hansol has taken court action against the port to try and resolve the issue.
At Albany, Timbercorp and Integrated Tree Cropping have spent $15 million building a woodchip terminal at the port and plan to spend a further $5 million this year on the facility.
Timber harvests and woodchip production are expected to increase substantially over coming years as plantations trees reach maturity, and this will add to the pressure on regional infrastructure.
