Kawerau's Norske Skog Tasman Mill farewelled as 'excellent place to work'

Photos from throughout the mill's history filled the town hall. Photo / Leah Tebbutt

It was a staple in the Kawerau community for decades providing employment to the town built around it.

But now the town's Norske Skog Tasman paper mill has been laid to rest in a fitting "funeral".

Following the mill's closure at the end of June, past and present employees and members of the public were invited to celebrate the mill and its role in the Kawerau community for the last 68 years.

Past and present employees filled the Kawerau Town Hall on Saturday, some travelling for hours through the rain, to celebrate the end of an era.

The closure has been a long time coming as demand for the mill's sole product, newsprint, kept declining, made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Original paper makers in April 1955. Photo / Leah Tebbutt

History lined the walls in the town hall at the weekend, with photos spanning from the mill's early construction stage in 1953 to the introduction of paper production in 1955, the 1987 earthquake and machine closures through the years.

Max Vowler soaked up the memories past while saying hello to familiar faces. An electrical engineer, Vowler started his 30-year stint at the mill in 1964.

"It was an excellent place to work. The wages were good and the accommodation was good and later on, they brought in a subsidised rent scheme where you were renting but you owned the house at the end.

"A lot of people really improved their style of living by working at the mill."

For 30 years Vowler was on-site in Kawerau and said there were many changes in that time as the company kept up with the modernising world.

"One of the biggest changes we found was when they changed from pneumatic control systems to electronics.

"We were all used to working with mechanical and pneumatic controls and all of a sudden we're faced with all these instruments and electronics. It was a big thing we had to learn to change."

Max Vowler was one of many former employees who came to say hello to old friends and reflect. Photo / Leah Tebbutt

The town of Kawerau was born after a 1951 Government and Fletcher Holdings decision to form the Tasman Pulp & Paper Company Limited as a joint venture.

By October 1953 the first house was built and newsprint production began two years later.

Fifteen million tonnes of paper have been made in the mill's time. The first log travelled across the bull chain at 1.20pm on February 16, 1956, then at 3.20pm the same day, the first cut on the band head rig took place.

Full production on what was once known as the largest pulp and paper facility in the world started four days later.

But to make paper you need trees. That's where 97-year-old John Mitchell came in.

Just after 1961, Mitchell came to the town to establish the Tarawera Forest, which at the time was a mix of private land and scrub.

His children brought their dad out to the open day to reminisce. Mitchell told NZME a love of gardening initially drew him to the industry.

"It's a very interesting life dealing with the land, growing things and working with people that felt the same way."

Photos of early construction were just some that featured in the day's exhibition. Photo / Leah Tebbutt

Norske Skog product supply and fibre manager Kevin Mackey helped create the weekend's "funeral", compiling any photos he could get his hands on.

It was bittersweet for everyone to say their final goodbyes, but the perfect opportunity to reflect, he said.

"I'm one of the young ones, I've been at the mill for 21 years but there's plenty of people here over 50.

"It's a really good employer and has looked after its employees."

While the newsprint mill has sung its last song, Mackey said both the sawmill and pulp mill were still operating.