Amisfield pine trees to be harvested

Council owns and maintains the large pine trees adjacent to the Tokoroa Airfield site. The trees are over 40 years old and need to be harvested. They will be replanted.

"We anticipate the harvesting works will begin on 10 May," said Sarah Flavall, Council's Strategic Projects Manager. "Crews will be working from 7am to 4pm, five days a week. Logging trucks and loaders will start earlier at 5am."

The team will be moving around five to six loads per day and the project is expected to take between four and five weeks from start to finish.

Amisfield residents have been advised.

"There will be no access granted to the area for public recreation or firewood gathering. Appropriate barriers and signage will be in place," continued Mrs Flavall. "A number of residences are located within two tree lengths of some of the trees, on the southern block. During felling of these trees, some residents will be required to vacate their properties for safety reasons. Council is liaising directly with these householders."

Access to the Tokoroa airfield will remain open but may be under traffic control from time to time. The road to the motor cross and the South Waikato Racing Club training track will also be under traffic control and will be closed entirely at times during the operation. The Tokoroa Cemetery will be closed for one day as well. Signage at Moffat Road will provide traffic control updates.

"To stay up to date on these road closures we encourage you to install Council's new mobile phone app Antenno," said Kerry Fabrie, Council's Communications Manager. "Antenno can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play and sends notifications direct to your phone for places you care about it."

Council acknowledges that the operation will be noisy and disruptive to residents and we appreciate residents' patience and cooperation during the works.

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