Extra meeting
An extraordinary South Wairarapa District Council meeting will be held today in public exclusion to discuss a report from the Chief Executive Employment Committee. According to the council’s website, the last time the committee met was on September 14 and 20 last year before the local body elections. The new committee was due to meet on March 30, but this meeting was cancelled, although the new council has previously discussed a “Progress Report from CEO Employment Review Committee” in public-excluded at full council meetings. Today’s extraordinary meeting will be public-excluded under Section 48(1)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by section 6, or section 7 of that Act, which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public. Section 7 protects the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons.
Station closed
Greytown’s caravan dump station was closed yesterday after Wellington Water found a can wedged in the wastewater lateral. South Wairarapa District Council said the can had been causing recurring blockages at the Arbour Reserve caravan dump station and has shut the station indefinitely until the can is removed from the lateral and service can be restored.
Buy-back bid
Work continues on bringing Hansells NZ back to Wairarapa. As reported on March 4, Alan Stewart is putting together a bid to buy back the brand, stock, plant, and sales and marketing of the iconic food and beverage manufacturer, which was established in Masterton in 1934 and sold to an Auckland company in 2008. Stewart – an accountant and executive chairman of contract manufacturer Hansells Masterton, which operates from Hansells NZ’s original site – has an agreement in principle with the company’s current owner to buy the assets. However, he still has to bridge a financing shortfall to seal the deal. “I have an extension and have raised some money,” Stewart said. “Effectively I’ve financed the working capital and can finance the plant, but goodwill is hard to finance.” Ideally, he’s seeking local investors to fill this gap. Anyone interested in investing can contact [email protected].
