A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
Chris Shaw’s proposal for a new forestry route from the East Coast, an inland port at Matawhero and a tourism and hospitality-focused harbour is nothing if not bold, and it does highlight a very important issue for Tairawhiti.
We thoroughly embrace anyone contributing to the thinking around the issue and
it is great that Chris has come forward. But sending all log exports to Napier is a very extreme solution and not one that the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce could support.
There is definitely frustration in our community. We can all see a growing requirement for export of product from our port, but there is no bold plan to safely transport products to the port. We are using the same roads that we all use and they are deteriorating.
We need to look at a larger infrastructure plan and not just apply band-aids to our existing roads. That is why we support a feasibility study to look at a heavy truck bypass for port deliveries. Perhaps elements of the Chris Shaw plan could be incorporated.
We have to learn to co-exist with our port. It is a massive economic contributor to our region and we cannot underestimate its importance as a vital link for exporters.
