Fire Damaged Plantations – Road Closures from 18th March 2019

The Forest Products Commission (FPC)  would like to advise that post fire recovery operations will soon commence in fire affected plantation estate located within the Lewana/Ferndale area.

Operations including site preparation and salvage of the damaged and remaining pine resource will begin in 18 March 2019 and continue through to July 2019. Parts of the plantation will then be replanted in late autumn or early winter 2019. This operation will be undertaken by authorised contractors working on behalf of the FPC.

Local communities are likely to notice additional trucking traffic on local roads associated with haulage of salvaged pine logs as they are harvested from the affected plantation sites.

FPC are currently notifying plantation neighbours and local communities of the planned recovery operations. We’re mindful of further impacts on local communities during the process of recovery and we’ll be working closely with plantation neighbours especially, to ensure any potential impacts such as dust, traffic disturbance is minimised.

As we proceed with implementation of the recovery operation, staff and contractor safety, community needs and environmental aspects such as soil and water quality, biosecurity and, future fire risk are elements that are all being considered.

The FPC values your feedback on our operations, as well as any other suggestions you may have to improve the integration of plantations in your local community. For more information regarding pine plantation operations in your local area, please contact Alois Zator on (08) 9725 5240 or email [email protected].