Navigating the hilly terrain of Nundle State Forrest

Our Walcha site is part of C3 Australia’s forestry operations providing cut to length harvesting services for the Forestry Corporation of NSW. The site is relatively new, now 16 months into a five-year contract.

Walcha is approximately 50km southeast of Tamworth, NSW and is the workplace for eight of our people. Part of our team have just completed a short-term contract in Tumut in Southern NSW, salvaging burnt pine from the 2019/2020 bushfires, while the rest of the team operate three harvesters and four forwarders in the Nundle State Forest, in the Walcha region.

The Nundle State Forest is extremely hilly which requires a lot of focus from the operators due to its difficult terrain. Log trucks wind their way up around 600 metres to the highest point and haul product from the gravel roads of the forest. Despite these challenges, our Walcha team produced 182,992 tonnes of product in the first 12 months of operation.

Working in such a demanding environment means that the team is hyper focused on safety.

“Our goals are to remain safe and productive. A lot of forestry operations have been driven by piece rate payments for operators, meaning the more you can cut, the more your get paid. We run a model of hourly rates. This provides a safer environment as our teams are being paid to remain safe and efficient, as opposed to racing to earn the highest dollar. We want to provide a workplace where employees are supported to do their job and at the safest level achievable, ensuring they go home safely to their families every day,” said C3 AUS, Regional Manager QLD/NSW, Kevin Ford.