Submissions close for East Coast erosion project

Associate Primary Industries Minister Jo Goodhew says that public consultation on proposed operational changes to the East Coast Forestry Project (ECFP) has now ended.

“We were pleased to receive submissions from landowners, research providers, forestry companies, local government and industry bodies.

“The submissions were supportive of improving the ECFP. Many of the submissions identified issues that we are aware of such as the need to speed up the payment process to reduce the period of bridging finance. 

“The next step will be for the Ministry for Primary Industries to analyse this feedback. I expect to report back to Cabinet in June 2014 with recommendations on changes to the regulations.

“I would like any changes to be in place as soon as possible to support the work of the landowners in the Gisborne region,” says Ms Goodhew.

The Gisborne region has a severe erosion problem. A quarter of the land is susceptible to severe erosion, compared with only 8 percent of all land in New Zealand.

The proposed changes made a number of operational recommendations aimed at improving the landowner’s participation in the prevention of soil erosion, through planting trees or indigenous regeneration.