A Northland dairy farm business is included in a package of land that has been sold for conversion to forestry.
In its latest decisions, the Overseas Investment Office has approved the sale of Liang Ren Dairy Estate, covering 1575ha, to an Australian company, Zentral Estate Ltd, for conversion to forestry.
The package includes the dairy farms Ridgeview Estate and Clearview Estate and the 2258ha Liang Ren Forest Estate comprising of Ngunguru Forest, Waikaraka Forest, Brynderwyn Forest and Tinopai Forest.
The transaction was entered under the previous special forestry test. Since August last year the standards overseas investors must meet to buy farmland for conversion have been elevated.
The applicant states it will plant areas suited to forestry in pinus radiata. About 62ha cannot be planted due to native bush, ridges, gullies, steep land, infrastructure and setbacks.
The forestry land contains approximately 1534ha of existing forestry with 633ha unplanted due to vegetation, terrain and infrastructure.
There is also a grazing lease over 91ha.
A 368ha North Canterbury grazing property has also been sold for forestry, for $3.1 million.
The Masons Flat farm at Hurunui has been sold by Dr Wolfgang Leitner, an Austrian citizen, who has other forestry investments in New Zealand.
The buyer is also an Austrian entity, Cerberus Vermogensverwaltung GmbH, who plans to plant 320ha in rotation forestry.
