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Invercargill City Councillor Ian Pottinger: It’s about accountability.
Ian Pottinger wants Great South summonsed to explain to the Invercargill City Council why the long-planned oat milk factory will no longer be located in Southland.
The councillor also wants answers to why the news came as such a bombshell, mere days after Great South had trumpeted the prospects for the factory in the release of its Beyond 2025 Southland Regional Long Term Plan.
The document cited the project, which had been pursued for a decade, as a $105 million facility bringing 70 long-term jobs to the region and massive market opportunities for growers of oats and protein crops.
The regional plan was released June 28, and by July 13, Great South was confirming that it was most likely to be built in Canterbury.
Pottinger has placed a notice of motion on the agenda for the city council’s meeting on August 22, seeking that Great South formally be asked to front to councillors next month to explain the turnaround.
The city council is a key funder of Great South, which is Southland’s regional development agency.
Pottinger noted that its statement of intent included that its board would keep shareholders such as the council informed on a “no surprises’’ basis.
Asked if he had been surprised, he said: “I was dumbfounded.”
He said he was seeking accountability and he wanted to know what had changed in just 15 days.
Southland District Council mayor Rob Scott, who chairs the Southland joint shareholders’ committee, said he was satisfied that the news of the changed situation, once it was known, had been communicated to them in accordance with the no-surprises clause.
The relocation plan was announced by New Zealand Functional Foods (NZFF), which is raising capital for the factory project. Great South is a 49% shareholder in NZFF, whose other owner is K1W1, the investment vehicle of Sir Stephen Tindall.
Great South chair Ian Collier, who is also on the NZFF board, said in July that the review of the location had been prompted from “those who are looking to invest”.
He said Southland still stood to benefit substantially from the development of the factory, and the project would still provide, on a more ambitious scale, a great opportunity for world-leading Southland-grown oats and other protein plants to be showcased on a much bigger platform.
Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark said he was very disappointed the factory was going away after between 10 and 12 years’ development in Southland.
He said he had faith in Collier as “an excellent asset” to the city and region.
“He’ll do what’s best for the stakeholders in these commercial negotiations. But it’s in a commercially sensitive state.”
Clark said he would support Pottinger’s motion next week and said he would expect Great South “to come and give some clear indication of what’s going on”.
Scott also voiced “full confidence” in Collier’s skills and commitment.
Though disappointed with the relocation, he said the province would have cause to be proud of the idea which had been initiated and developed here, and he agreed with Collier’s assessment that it still stood to benefit substantially from the development that lay ahead.
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August 21, 2023
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City councillor wants Great South summonsed for oat factory explanation - Southland Times
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