The sawmill has been part of the region's economy for the last 40 years. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
A decision on the future of Carter Holt Harvey's Eves Valley Sawmill in Tasman is expected on Thursday.
RNZ understands staff are being called to a meeting at the sawmill this afternoon.
Tasman mayor Tim King said he was told of a proposal to shut the plant, with Carter Holt Harvey consolidating resources in Kawerau, Bay of Plenty, two weeks ago.
King said the sawmill, which was built in the 1980s, had been a major part of the region's economy for the last 40 years, with about 250,000 tonnes of timber processed at the site each year. The closure would affect 142 jobs.
King and Nelson mayor Nick Smith sent a joint letter to Carter Holt Harvey earlier this week, asking that the proposed closure of the sawmill be delayed for 12 months to allow for the salvage of windfall timber, after the storms that caused widespread damage across the Tasman district in June and July.
About 5500 hectares of forestry was felled by wind and sodden ground conditions, and that it would take 12 months to recover the fallen trees, many of which still had intact roots.
"The volume of wood to be recovered is of the order of 3 million cubic metres," the letter read. "This is a massive increase over our normal annual harvest.
"We believe it is in the best interests of the region and forest industry that the Eves Valley sawmill continue to operate to help us manage this wall of wood over the next year. It defies logic to be removing significant capacity, when more wood will be harvested in the region in the next year than has ever been or likely to ever be harvested in the future over a 12-month period."
King and Smith were keen to meet with Carter Holt Harvey chief executive Prafull Kesha to explore all options, including the sawmill being leased to ensure processing capacity was retained under the "exceptional circumstances" following the storms.
The mayors asked that, "as a corporate citizen that has operated this profitable sawmill in our region for 40 years, you not abandon us in our hour of need".
"We emphasise how important this issue is to our region's recovery from these storm events. We are also concerned about the effect on jobs, families and the wider economy.
"These are very unusual circumstances that require a broader perspective than just the needs of the Carter Holt Harvey business."
RNZ has approached Carter Holt Harvey for comment, but it has not made a public statement on the proposal to close the sawmilll.
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