56 jobs lost in sawmill closure

A lock was on the gate, logs were piled high and a security guard was the only sign of life at Wanganui sawmill Allied Pine off Mosston Rd yesterday.
At 11.30 yesterday morning, locals said, 56 workers left the sawmill.
In a press release, Allied Farmers said it had closed the mill, blaming the high exchange rate and log prices.
Allied Farmers chairman John Loughlin said it was a sad day, but the sawmill had made losses over the past four years, and these had worsened over the past four months.
The 56 staff on site would be paid the redundancy payments according to their collective agreement, and all creditors would be paid in full.
Mark McCarthy, of McCarthy's Transport, a contract loader to cart away wood chips and logs, said that, as of yesterday, the contract had ceased.
Logs from the region would now be carted further ? to mills near Wellington and other North Island destinations.
Mr McCarthy said his firm had been warned that the mill was in trouble, but had received no warning of yesterday's closure.
He said Allied Pine did an excellent job of soldiering on, but pointed to the Government and its lack of help to business to return a profit.
"The Government is talking about KiwiSaver, but you have to have a job to save any money."
He said the country needed to get the dollar under control and he would like to see some monetary control, because "exporters were not able to make a profit".
Mr McCarthy said there was definitely a future for a mill in Wanganui, with plenty of labour and trees in the region.
However, Wanganui Chamber of Commerce president Bronwyn Paul said the solution was in the problem, based on the success she saw in an overseas business.
"You have to think outside the square at times like this.
"It makes me sad that employee buy-in was not looked at before the company closed down."
Mrs Paul said employee buy-in helped sustain business. "A sense of ownership and pride helped turn business around. "Employees looked at things differently when they had a buy-in.
"I have seen it work first-hand, and people connected to that business found creative ways to make the business work."
There was a pride in being employed and owning the business, she said.
"We cannot afford to have 56 people who represent 56 families out of work in Wanganui.
"It's not good for them, and it's not good for the community."
To her way of thinking as a business owner, Mrs Paul said she did not want to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff ? she preferred to be part of the solution.
The Chronicle was told last night that employees were still working at the mill, but further information was unavailable.
Comment was sought from CEO David Bale of Allied Prime Finance, but he did not reply to messages left on his mobile answerphone.