Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Lumbercube closure: Local reactions

Matthew Martin
By Matthew Martin
Senior reporter, Rotorua Daily Post·Rotorua Daily Post·
29 Jun, 2016 11:16 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Eastside Residents' Association chairman Ra Daniels, right, and Mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo/File

Eastside Residents' Association chairman Ra Daniels, right, and Mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo/File

This morning's sudden closure of Rotorua's controversial Lumbercube mill has come as a shock and surprise to many in the community.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said the biggest losers today were the people who had - directly and indirectly - lost their jobs.

"I really feel for the staff, no-one has won today," she said.

"This has been a difficult issue, trying to balance things. We had lots of people affected by the noise of the operation, but now we have got even more affected by the closure, not just staff, but those around the edges like truck drivers and all the other associated jobs.

"I think today we should focus on those that have lost their jobs and we will soon find out what has happened.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I'm not sure of the reasons why, but it would not have been an easy decisions for the mill's owners as they have invested significantly in the mill," Mrs Chadwick said.

Eastside Residents Association chairman Ra Daniels said no-one was celebrating the closure and he did not see it as any sort of victory.

The association was set up to combat noise issues coming from the mill that had received more than 2500 noise complaints since it opened in September last year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Read more:
• Lumbercube mill closed
• Tachikawa/Lumbercube site: Timeline of events

"It's a big surprise, nobody from our association thought it would get to this stage."

"We are not trying to paint this as a victory, it was never about trying to close the place down, but it goes without saying that many residents on the eastside will be relieved the noise has gone."

"This does not mean these people are pleased so many people have lost their jobs, that was never the intention of the group. We all understand the need for employment and opportunity, but we were looking for a satisfactory solution to address the noise issues," Mr Daniels said.

Discover more

Mill closure: Bittersweet time for residents

30 Jun 09:05 PM

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh was unaware of the news before being contacted by the Rotorua Daily Post.

"It will be obvious from a commercial and an industry perspective disappointing to see them go."

The mill's management have not yet confirmed how many jobs were affected by today's announcement.

Rotorua Lakes Council chief executive Geoff Williams said it had been a testing time for the mill.

"The challenge of a business is to try to be viable and meet all its obligations and we know that's been testing for Lumbercube.

"The focus right now will be on the mill staff and their families, as well as other service providers who may be affected by the closure. Council has a responsibility both as an enabler of business and as a regulator and the challenge in this case has been balancing those roles."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We had been working towards what we felt would be a tangible long-term solution but ultimately, a business decision has been made."

"We will be in contact with the mill operators at the appropriate time to see if there is any support they need from us and get clarity around any matters that may require council's involvement."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

TUT withdraws appeal over unlawful removal of Te Urewera huts

03 Jul 05:00 PM
live
Rotorua Daily Post

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

New Rotorua police beat team to tackle 'big' retail crime issues

03 Jul 07:03 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Premium
TUT withdraws appeal over unlawful removal of Te Urewera huts

TUT withdraws appeal over unlawful removal of Te Urewera huts

03 Jul 05:00 PM

Te Uru Taumatua has withdrawn its appeal against the High Court ruling.

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas
live

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
New Rotorua police beat team to tackle 'big' retail crime issues

New Rotorua police beat team to tackle 'big' retail crime issues

03 Jul 07:03 AM
Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP