Firewood Famine Likely

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 66, 24 August 1965, Page 2

Firewood Famine Likely

People living in Taupo are facing a firewood famine this winter which is likely to last for seasons to come, unless someone with capital, initiative and the desire to work hard can start a firewood business to overcome the problem. This is the opinion of Mr T. J. O'Neill who owns a sawmill off Spa Road.

Mr O'Neill said their business has been supplying slab pine at 15/- a load to Taupo residents, but because many people want native timber or are not prepared to pay the small sum for the pine, the firm has decided to channel the by-product into a more profitable sideline. This will entail sending the timber to Auckland where it will be processed into particle board by Henderson and Pollard Ltd. The firm, which will take the first consignment in a few days, will be able to process as much pine as the O'Neill sawmill can provide. With one of the main suppliers of firewood in the Taupo district out of the running, greater demand

will be placed on the remaining supplier, Huka Timber Mill. This firm, which sells mostly native timber at about £4 a cord, already has a one-month waiting list of customers. There now appears to be an opening in the firewood business in Taupo. Mr O'Neill suggests that a person entering the business would need a streamlined approach to the enterprise by having a conveyor belt system feeding from a suitable saw to the back of a truck. This is also the opinion of Mr J. E. Van der Leden, a Taupo resident who was once in the firewood business in the town. Mr Van der Leden thinks there is no sl*ortage of pine slabs in the district for the person wanting to start a firewood business. He suggested that Pardon's Mill, which burns its slabs to get rid of them, would keep a firewood merchant in stock.

Mr Van der Leden gave up his business because he too found it discouraging when he supplied firewood on order and was not paid for it. He said it was necessary for him. to stockpile cut firewood during the summer months and sell it in the short rush period during the winter. Another factor which forced him out of the business was insufficient land on which to store wood in the summer. Mr Van der Leden thinks a fair amount of capital is required to start a firewood business and there is a fine margin of profit when a charge of about £2/15/- a load is made for pine logs. He said a suitable saw could cost about £800 and there would be a vehicle, about five acres of land and possibly a conveyor system on top of the initial cost. Mr E. Pardon, of Pardon's Mill, predicted that within about 10 years firewood may be impossible to get in Taupo because this by-pro-duct of the mills will be used entirely for processing into pulp for paper or chip board products. He suggested the natural resources of steam available in this district could be used for heating on a wider basis.