Wairoa has 'enough trees': Tiny council's decision could fell NZ's climate change goals 4 Feb, 2021 02:25 AM 5 minutes to read Wairoa District Council's new rating system will see forest owners charged a rating differential of 4.0. Photo / File Wairoa District Council's new rating system will see forest owners charged a rating differential of 4.0. Photo / File Hawkes Bay Today By: Gianina Schwanecke A small Hawke's Bay community that fears it will bear the exotic forestry "burden" of New Zealand's bid to become a carbon-neutral nation is fighting back. But Wairoa District Council's new rating system, which will force forestry to pay more than four times the rates of a sheep and beef farm of the same size, has incensed the industry, which is now threatening to put the council into the crosshairs of central Government.