The flow-on effects of the redundancies are expected to be felt in Gore as many of the mill's 110 staff live in areas outside Tapanui.
West Otago Community board chairman Lindsay Alderton said sawmilling had been a big part of the district for a ‘‘very long'' time.
West Otago had good materials well-suited to sawmilling and a skilled workforce and it was a ‘‘great pity'' that the industry was feeling the effects of circumstances beyond its control, Mr Alderton said.
He was concerned about the flow-on effects to businesses as the board was keen to ensure businesses remained viable. He was also concerned about the stress the lay-offs would place on families.
‘‘I'm really angry with people beyond our shores,'' Mr Alderton said.
He blamed overseas governments including the United States' for their poor handling of policies that led to the financial downturn.
However, he believed there was a silver lining to the lay-offs as the sheep industry in the district had been enjoying the benefits of increased lamb prices and might be able to absorb some of the workers laid off at the mill.
Forest Lodge Hotel manager Jason Perriman, of Tapanui, said in the lead-up to the announced lay-offs he had noticed a downturn in business, ‘‘just with the talk about it''.
Workers from the mill made up a ‘‘good base of customers'' at the hotel, he said.
‘‘It [the redundancies] makes everybody look at their spending,'' Mr Perriman said.
‘‘It's a real shame - I feel for the guys involved,'' he said.
The lay-offs would have a major effect on the community and the flow-on effects would be far-reaching, he said.
‘‘It hits us pretty big,'' he said. Mr Perriman had worked at the hotel for 11 years and had witnessed the effects of previous lay-offs at Blue Mountain Lumber. ‘‘We go through these times,'' he said.
Hammer Hardware Tapanui owner Graeme Smith said the community had been through this situation before and he also believed Gore might suffer more than Tapanui as many of the workers came from there.
He did not believe the outlook was all doom and gloom.
While the timber industry was badly affected by the global economic downturn, the sheep industry was enjoying a resurgence with the price of lamb being extremely good, he said.
‘‘The district is strong. Sheep farmers are having an exceptional year,'' Mr Smith said.
There were not too many new dairy conversions in the area and that meant the dairy industry in the area was also stable.
Kidzway Early Learning Centre administrator Liesl Grounds said the organisation did not have any families with parents who worked at Blue Mountain Lumber listed on its books.
‘‘We're actually not affected - most parents are farming. We are one of the luckier ones,'' Ms Grounds said.
