CORRYONG'S Walkers Sawmill is set to close in September with 21 workers to lose their jobs.
Owner Graham Walker has acted after a falling log supply due to a court case involving greens and a Victorian government move to end hardwood processing.
"When you've had a business for over 50 years it's a pretty hard decision to make, to close the door because you can't get your head around it happening, it's something you can't comprehend," Mr Walker said.
Under the government's industry opt-out package, Mr Walker had to agree by last week to hand back his licence, which expires in June 2024, to ensure his employees were entitled to the state's maximum redundancy packages.
He travelled from his Lavington home to the mill last week to reveal the closure.
"It was the hardest decision I have ever made but it was the right decision for our employees, and the dark sky mirrored the sombre mood of the staff," he said.
Towong Shire mayor Andrew Whitehead said given Corryong's population and remoteness, the loss of a job there was comparable to six to eight being wiped out in a bigger city like Wodonga.
However, he said the mill's demise was not surprising given that "the state government's changing of the ability for them to source their hardwood logs was going to make it hard for them to keep going".
The mill turns logs into pallets and its key contract ends in June with all its remnant wood to be processed by September when it will shut down.
The enterprise, which began in 1965, pours up to $5.5 million annually into Corryong with its workers ranging from a 17-year-old casual cleaner to a 72-year-old office administrator.
Councillor Whitehead said it would be important to find new roles for the workers "because a lot of them have lived in Corryong for their whole lives" and it would be a big change.
Mr Walker hopes another industrial use can be found for the site which had a $1-million investment in solar power in 2019.
He plans to write to Agriculture Minister Gayle Tierney expressing his dismay at what the government's policies have done to the region.
"It's very demoralising to know there's trees in the bush that can be used and you could have kept employing guys forever," he said.
His mill has also seen its timber supply from NSW drop to 2500 metres this year, compared to its usual 5000-7500m, adding to the pain of its intake from Victoria halting.
