01 August 2016
The Eastland, Southern and Northland Wood Council Forestry Awards have now come to a close for this year, with a high calibre of winners from all over the country.
Competenz National Manager – Forestry Mark Preece believes the success of these awards is a real testament to the great work being achieved in the forestry industry.
“These awards nights are key to highlighting the best in New Zealand forestry,” he said.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to put a spotlight on the top performers, and Competenz are extremely proud to be part of this through sponsorship of award categories and award judging.”
Eastland Wood Council Forestry Awards 2016
Congratulations to Jasmine Kuru from Kuru Contracting, who won the Competenz NZ Apprentice of the Year Award at the Eastland Wood Council Forestry Awards at the end of May, presented by Competenz General Manager – Strategy and Transformation Sandy Botterill.
“The regional awards are a great opportunity to recognise and reward success. The Gisborne region has really embraced the awards with over 500 people turning up on the night to celebrate the success of the industry,” said Sandy.
Mark Preece, who was on the judging panel, was very impressed with the quality of entries for the 2016 awards.
“Judging was tough in many categories as the calibre of entrants was really high. There were a lot of really great examples of people who have worked in the forest industry for a number of years operating over and above the norm, striving to ensure they operate in a way that is safe, environmentally responsible, meets production targets, and leads others in a positive way,” he said.
Awards organiser, and chief executive of the Eastland Wood Council Prue Younger, already has plans to improve the event for next year.
“We recognise that everyone is busy, and in an effort to get more consistent information to the judges and encourage more to enter, we will have a mentor on hand to help put entries together,” she said.
“Things are gaining momentum. The loyalty of our sponsors is amazing and that area of the awards continues to grow. When we first introduced these awards, we wanted to unite the industry, up-skill the workers and profile success – we’ve achieved all that and more.”
Award winners on the night:
- Overall Skilled Professional Award – Willaim (Hoot) Knolwes from Hikurangi Forest Farms
- Apprentice of the Year – Jasmine Kuru, Kuru Contracting
- Trainee of the Year – Rob Clarke, Kimberly Contractors
- Training Company of the Year – Diack Contractors
- Forestry Excellence – Amohau Maxwell, Juken NZ
- Harvesting Excellence – Eru Rickard, X Men Logging
- Roading Excellence – Willaim (Hoot) Knolwes, Hikurangi Forest Farms
- Wood Processing Excellence – Glen McCulloch, Double J Smallwoods
- Breaker out Excellence – Tom Wehi, Blackstump Logging
- Felling Excellence – Kasimea Afu, Flavell Logging
- Extraction & Skidwork Excellence – Stephen Harris, Speirs Logging
- Environmental Management Excellence - Liam Watson, Ernslaw One
- Health & Safety Excellence – Eastland Port
- Regional Service Provider – Rural Fuel
- Contractor of the Year – Steve Dewes, Dewes Contractors
Southern Wood Council Forestry Awards 2016
The Southern Wood Council represents all major forest owners and most of the major wood processing companies in Otago and Southland, and ran this year’s awards programme with support from Competenz.
On arrival attendees were welcomed to the Southern Wood Council Forestry Awards by Competenz chief executive Fiona Kingsford. Nearly 400 forest managers, forestry contractors, transport operators and product and service suppliers to the industry from throughout the lower South Island attended the event.
“The turnout by forestry workers, their families and supporters on the night is probably a true reflection of the momentum that’s been building over the last year or so with on-site training and safety in this region,” said Secretary of the Southern Wood Council Brent Apthorp.
“In addition to celebrating the training achievements of forestry crews, many travelling into Dunedin, some driving 3-4 hours to attend the evening, also brought with them other workers to celebrate the year – and to recognise the success of forestry workers, crews and companies that had stood out over the past 12 months”.
Award winners on the night:
- Apprentice of the Year – Keanu Falconer, Shane Griffin Logging
- Harvesting Trainee of the Year – Wayde Lindsay, Shane Griffin Logging
- Silviculture Trainee of the Year – Darren Lundin, McHoull Contracting
- Training Company of the Year – Johnson Forestry Services
- Forestry Skilled Professional – Craig Gamble, Gamble Forest Harvesting
- Wood Processing Skilled Professional – Phillip Townshend, Niagara Sawmilling
- Logistics Skilled Professional – Blair Keetly, McNeill Drilling Company
- Environmental Excellence - Greg Kendall/Paul Hart, Ernslaw One
- Health & Safety Excellence – Gillion Logging
- Presentation of over 120 individual National Certificates.
Northland Wood Council Forestry Awards 2016
Congratulations to Nigel Harrison, who walked off with the Northland Forestry Skilled Professional of the Year as well as the Harvesting Excellence Award at this year’s Northland Wood Council Forestry Awards 2016.
The judging panel included Jacqui Apiata (ACC injury prevention and management consultant for the northern region), Mike Goodison (WorkSafe NZ) and Brett Jobe (Competenz), who are all part of the Northland Forestry Health and Safety Group. They were all very impressed with the time and effort nominees put in to their entries this year, and said it was a hard decision picking just one winner for each award.
Award winners on the night:
- Overall Skilled Professional Award – Nigel Harrison from Wise on Wood
- Trainee of the Year – Jeremy Gunner, Tombleson Logging
- Training Company of the Year – Northpine
- Forestry Excellence – Barry Waitai, Silviculture Contractors
- Harvesting Excellence – Nigel Harrison, Wise on Wood
- Roading Excellence – Dave Johns, Trees Out
- Distribution Excellence – Ian Newey, Aztec Forestry Transport
- Wood Processing Excellence – Bruce Larsen, Northpine
- Environmental Management Excellence - Shane Maxwell, Kohurau Contracting
- Health & Safety Excellence – Northern Forest Products
- Contractor of the Year – Lars & Fiona Rosewarne, Rosewarne Cable Loggers
- Forestry Family of the Year – Tombleson Family, Tombleson Logging
Competenz congratulates all the finalists and winners. As proud supporters of the forestry industry, we’re actively working with the industry to grow and develop training opportunities for apprentices.
