{"id":29673,"date":"2017-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/final-plea-for-water-uptake\/"},"modified":"2017-12-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T11:00:00","slug":"final-plea-for-water-uptake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/final-plea-for-water-uptake\/","title":{"rendered":"Final plea for water uptake"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Without the minimum uptake the proposers of the $110 million Hunter Downs irrigation scheme have indicated they would be forced to pull the plug.<\/p>\n

The project, which had been 12 years in the making, was 10% short of the minimum uptake needed to proceed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are making a final appeal to farmers and other key stakeholders to invest in this project,\u201d Hunter Downs Water chairman Andrew Fraser said.<\/p>\n

HDW has been holding water share funds in trust since April 2017.<\/p>\n

Fraser said the board had come to a point where it needed to make a decision on whether to proceed or return funds to those who had already made the commitment to take water.<\/p>\n

The date for that decision would be December 14 at the company\u2019s annual meeting.<\/p>\n

Fraser said Hunter Downs had secured a unique set of features that meant water could be delivered at a viable cost while securing future land use opportunities.<\/p>\n

They included a highly reliable water take and use consent from the Waitaki River, nutrient rights capable of seeing the region into the future in both a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner and the ability to augment the Wainono Lagoon to a help achieve community water quality aspirations \u2013 all in an innovative design that used the existing Morven Glenavy irrigation infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the combination of all the above features that makes this scheme viable at this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, there are critical time constraints around a number of these aspects,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

Financial support and funding from Crown Irrigation Investments had been secured but with conditions.<\/p>\n

It had agreed to provide $70 million term debt funding to make water affordable while not creating significant subsidisation between farmers.<\/p>\n

But, as part of the funding conditions, HDW needed 9500 shares sold and 7000 water shares (equal to 7000 hectares) issued.<\/p>\n

HDW had fallen short of that required minimum water share uptake having secured commitments from 50 shareholders for just over 6000 water shares.<\/p>\n

Fraser made one last plea for investment in the scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would urge anyone who has an interest in the scheme to contact us directly, ensuring that we have a viable scheme to take forward and ensure the future prosperity of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initial investment remained at $2650 a water share payable in thirds.<\/p>\n

Given the delays in securing support the further payments would be delayed and were now likely to be late 2018 and mid-2019.<\/p>\n

To be so close and not to succeed would be a lost opportunity for the region, HDW project manager Stacey Scott said.<\/p>\n

It would also have significant economic impact on the growth in the region and onfarm wealth, including the loss of a unique and highly valuable water take consent.<\/p>\n

\u201cKey relationships would be lost and would be unlikely to be repeated in the future which makes this scheme affordable and possible at this time,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would welcome the opportunity to meet with anyone who might reconsider supporting the scheme to ensure we get it across the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to hear from you in the next few days so we can develop protocols for the board\u2019s recommendation at the annual meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

When complete the scheme would meet the water demands for farms and the wider community between Waimate and Timaru.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The final plea is out to farmers and investors to ensure a South Canterbury irrigation project can proceed.\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":29674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t