Logistics company T-Ports this week will host public consultations on its proposal to export timber products through the town of Kingscote on Kangaroo Island.
The sessions will be at the KI Council Chambers on Wednesday, Feb. 9 from 5pm to 7.30pm and again on Thursday, Feb. 10 from 1.30pm to 3.30pm.
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Company representatives will also meet with local authorities, including the KI Council, while on the Island.
T-Ports chief executive Kieren Carvill said he was keen to receive feedback from the community and address any concerns.
"The last thing I want as a CEO is to receive a call that there there has been an interaction between a child and truck and so we will listen carefully to the community," he said.
Steps to mitigate potential impacts could be not operating during school pick-ups and drop-offs, he said.
The company is in discussion to ship woodchips and some logs off the land with private forestry owners, as well as Kiland and its newly appointed land manager AAGIM., tasked with converting plantations to agricultural land.
The proposal would see 78 to 82 trucks over a 24-hour period on the six to eight days a month that the transhipment vessel was working off the wharf.
This equated to about four trucks an hour, he said.
T-Ports envisions the transhipment process to last six to eight years, based on information provided by KI Land and AAG.
Up to 4000 tonnes of timber products would be stockpiled at storage site off Ten Trees Road on the outskirts on Kingscote and then on shipping days transported to the wharf area.
Mr Carvill said the T-Ports would use Euro compliant trucks that met strict noise and emission standards.
A designated area at the wharf would be used to offload the woodchips and logs.
T-Ports proposed to build a new 60 to 65-metre jetty alongside the existing much-larger wooden jetty, currently under restoration.
The timber loading area, while off limits on loading days, would be reopened when not in use.
T-Ports would also consider opening its new jetty for public access, depending on approval from state authorities.
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Stan Gorton
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
