Yes to Raetihi Zone change

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 8, Issue 382, 16 April 1991, Page 1

Yes to Raetihi Zone change

Raetihi's district scheme change to allow the possible establishment of a meat processing plant was given the green light last Friday despite a last ditch attempt by an AFFFCO lawyer to delay the change.

The scheme change involves the old Timmo's Mill site on State Highway Four from Industrial A zone to Industrial B, which would make it a possible site for a meat processing plant. Having put through the scheme change the council and the developers will now be waiting to see if AFFCO will go through with the appeal and/or injunction they mentioned at the hearing. A large number of objections were put to the council but all but one were withdrawn after they were reassured by the developers on matters of noise and smell control. The remaining objection, from Transit New Zealand, concerned traffic safety with regard to access to the site and parking. The council accepted TNZ's objections and modified the scheme change to accommodate their recommendations. Soon after excluding the public for debate on the issue, a representative of AFFCO Taumarunui along with a lawyer arrived and the hearing continued. The lawyer, Mr

McRay, told the council that AFFCO had put forward a crossobjection with TNZ's so that they could be heard. Council slip Mr McRay said the council was legally bound to have notified AFFCO personally of

the proposed scheme change and that if it had been notified it most certainly would have objected. He said the AFFCO plant would be economically affected by the establishment of a meat processing plant in the district so had a right to object. Ruapehu mayor Garrick Workman later told the Bulletin he thought it was "utter nonsense" to say the council should

have informed AFFCO personally. He said the co'mpany was merely trying to slow up the process for the developers. "But if I were an AFFCO shareholder I would want to know why they were wasting money trying to block the scheme change when the developers could merely shift the plant to Ohakune," said Mr Workman. "They're not

going to solve their problem by blocking Raetihi's scheme change - they will just shift it 15 kilometres." The developers could set up in Ohakune as of right in the industrial B zone there, said Mr Workman. He also said he did not believe the plant would have a significant effect on the economics of the Taumarunui plant, or even the company's Wanganui plant. Equal footing "This scheme change just puts Raetihi on an equal footing with all the other areas in the district as far as industrial zones are concerned," said Mr Workman. "It's up to the developers where they set up their plant, not the council, but I just hope it is somewhere in the Ruapehu District." Developer Peter Wenden said people in Raetihi had really pcushed for the plant to be in Raetihi. He said if the scheme change is blocked Raetihi will be the looser and that the plant will go elsewhere. "It's really important for a plant of this nature to go into a town which is not hostile and Raetihi is definitely not hostile to the plant," said Mr Wenden.