Shareholder still refuses to sign

Press, 13 September 1988, Page 7

Shareholder still refuses to sign

The Selwyn Plantation Board’s four largest shareholding local authorities have endorsed its Deed of Intent to corporatise, but the smallest shareholder, Christchurch City, is still refusing to sign. Board representatives met the council’s policy and finance committee yesterday to impress on councillors the need to sign the deed.

Council officers recommend delaying any negotiation over the future structure of the board until after local government reorganisation.

The council would then be able to negotiate as a 40 per cnet plus shareholder (the combined holdings of uniting authorities), they say.

It is this tactic that prompted the board’s chairman, Mr Pat Abbott, to accuse the council of manoeuvring for commercial advantage. The board’s aim in putting in place the deed is to secure its $3O million to $4O million assets for their owners, the six member authorities. The board’s chief executive, Mr Bill Studholme, told councillors yesterday that the ratepayers who owned the shelter belt and plantation assets of the board had to be protected.

The board wanted to move now to give the Local Government Commission a pointer to its future direction, Mr Studholme said.

The deed stated its intent to incorporatise when the law allowed. Mr Studholme said the deed was seen as the best means by which the board could make sure the assets were not spread throughout the region to those who did not own them.

Malvern County (26 per cent) and Paparua County (16 per cent) had already signed the deed, and Waimairi District (23 per cent) and Ellesmere County (24 per cent) had indicated they would sign. The other shareholder is Heathcote County’ (8 per cent). The City’s share is 3 per cent.

City Councillors said yesterday the council’s own local government reform submission outlined its thought that the Selwyn Plantation Board as a company would in future take over the running of the city’s own forestry resources. “It is not a takeover bid by us, rather that the board would take over our forestry,” sad Cr John Burn.

The committee felt it was prudent to leave negotiations until after reform.

The man who drew up the deed, the board’s lawyer, Mr David Stock, said after the meeting that 75 per cent of shareholders had to sign the deed to make it valid. The City’s abstention would make no difference to the deed.