meanwhile in south oz

Forward sale threatens to deliver final blow to timber town



Posted on January 24, 2011, 8:08am and updated on January 24, 2011 at 8:28 am
WHEN passing through Tarpeena, for sale signs out the front of homes and abandoned shop fronts are immediately noticeable, while the less visible sufferings of the town like the loss of its football team, a school on the brink of closure and an ageing population, are less obvious.

Now a ?air of negativity? permeates amongst the residents of the once thriving timber town ? built around the Gunns sawmill ? amid fears the forward sale of plantations will deliver the its ?final blow?.

Forestry union officials predict one third of the town?s sawmill workforce would lose their jobs if the forests are sold to a private enterprise, taking into account that the ?likely scenario? plays out where the once guaranteed log supplies for local manufacturers head overseas.

Grant District Councillor Shirley Little has grown up in Tarpeena and was saddened last week when a young couple moved away in a strategic move to avoid what many perceive as the imminent devaluation in house prices if the sale proceeds.

?They felt like they needed to move away just in case and to beat the rush ? this decision will involve a high percentage of those who live in the town if not directly than indirectly,? she said.

?Our major concern is that our population is ageing and with the current grim look for the town young people are either moving away or are not seeing it as an attractive place to settle down.?

Owner of the sole pub in town ? The Pines Hotel ? Lynton Cram said even the possibility that the sale may go ahead had already planted a widespread sense of ?negativity in the air? amongst the towns residents.

?What I am finding now is that business is very patchy ? before you would have the pub full on a Friday night without fail but now it is very hit and miss,? he said.

?With the forward sale on the table people are worried they will lose their jobs ? the town has suffered a lot but is very resilient. However the feeling around town has never been worse.?

The blue-collar town with traditionally loyal Labor party leanings now harbours a deep resentment for the government, according to Mr Cram.

?I am a Labor man and the town is typically Labor, but that has changed with this decision ? there is a deep resentment there now,? he said.

Mr Cram said the downsizing of the Nangwarry mill had already driven one ?nail in the coffin? for his business and seen many in the town lose their jobs.

?This coupled with the current feeling will mean young people will continue to not buy a house in Tarpeena and we need young ones to spruce up the place,? he said.

?It will definitely be another nail in the coffin if they sell the forests ? the town will always be there but it won?t be the same.?

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union South East representative Travis Lawson said the Tarpeena mill sourced about 50,000 cubic metres of log from ForestrySA each year.

While he said the amount was not ?significant? the extra wood ? on top of logs sourced from their own forests ? enabled the mill to work around the clock, every day of the year.

?If that supply is lost or becomes more expensive then jobs will be lost,? he said.

?History shows the growth and development of Tarpeena is inexplicably linked to the timber milling operations of the town ? its demise will equally be so.?

Australian Bureau of statistics state that Tarpeena has the highest concentration of a population working in the manufacturing industry in the state, with 57pc employed in timber mills or affiliate industries.

This is why Cr Little ?cannot bear the thought? that the place where she grew up will fall victim to a decision ?purely for city needs? and not be there for her great granddaughter.

?We have always had a connection with the timber industry ? my father felled the pines when they used to do it the hard way and now my daughter works in the mill,? she said.

?Now with the school on the brink and sports clubs losing numbers, we are losing the nucleus of the next generation of Tarpeena ? this forestry sale might just deliver the final blow.?