Submissions on a proposal which could determine the future of irrigation projects in Central Otago close today.
By late afternoon yesterday, the Central Otago District Council had received 26 submissions on two questions - should the council create a loan guarantee policy and should it support an application for a loan guarantee worth about $7.12 million (20% of the capital cost) for Tarras Water Ltd?
Proponents of the Tarras irrigation scheme are planning a $35.6 million development.
They had raised about $8 million through farmer buy-in, asked the Otago Regional Council to buy dry-equity shares worth $3.3 million and asked the district council to act as a guarantor for a bank loan to cover the remaining cost.
Of the submissions that directly answered the questions, 14 said the council should not create such a policy and seven said it should.
Thirteen said the council should not support Tarras Water's application, seven said it should support to a limit of 20%, and one said it should support to a lower level.
The council will consider the proposals on October 12.
