Failed milk plant not so happy in the valley
The company behind a failed milk plant project in Otorohanga faces de-registration in New Zealand next week.
After struggling for years to secure capital, a proposed greenfield milk plant project in King Country has collapsed.
The Happy Valley Nutrition board went into voluntary administration last week.
Advisory and restructuring firm McGrathNicol says the Happy Valley board has appointed Andrew Grenfell and Kare Johnstone as voluntary administrators.
It says the administrators are undertaking an urgent review of HVNL. Further updates will be provided in due course.
The first statutory meeting of creditors is expected to take place on July 18.
"A meeting notice setting out the time and location for the first meeting of the creditors will be distributed to HVNL's creditors over the coming days," it says.
HVNL was set up in 2016 to develop the milk plant.
While the company had acquired land at Otorohanga and had obtained resource consents from the Otorohanga District Council and Waikato Regional Council, it failed to secure funding for the project.
One of the HVNL founders and key backers Randolph van der Burgh, who resigned from the board in May, wouldn't comment.
"I am no longer an HVN director and therefore I am not able, nor authorised, to comment," he told Dairy News.
Manawatu Mayor Michael Ford says the district sees itself as the agribusiness capital of the lower North Island.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is looking forward to connecting with farmers, rural professionals and community members at this year's Central District Field Days.
Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins has announced a reshuffle of the party's caucus portfolios.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says a series of rural resilienced set to be rolled out next week will help farmers and growers better prepared for adverse weather events.
The head of Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment, Professor Paul Kenyon, says the outlook for the primary sector is positive with record numbers of students enrolling for Massey's range of undergraduate courses in the primary sector.
Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith is a long-time supporter of the CD field days and says the benefits from it flow into his city.
OPINION: Expect the Indian free trade deal to feature strongly in the election campaign.
OPINION: One of the world's largest ice cream makers, Nestlé, is going cold on the viability of making the dessert.