Ian Collier fronted up to the Invercargill City Council (ICC) yesterday after councillor Ian Pottinger filed a notice of motion asking for Great South to explain why an oat milk factory it had worked for a decade to develop was now destined to be built in Canterbury.
Before opening the floor for questions, Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark explained Great South — which is funded by ICC, Southland District Council, Gore District Council and Environment Southland — was a 49% shareholder in the project with Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 investment.
The remaining 51% belonged to New Zealand Functional Foods (NZFF), which was raising capital for the factory project.
"So that makes us a minority shareholder and this has implications."
Cr Pottinger said when Great South released its Beyond 2025, "everything looked fantastic".
The next month he learned about the decision to relocate the factory, allegedly because it needed better connection and collaboration with industry and infrastructure.
He asked Mr Collier which key infrastructure Southland was missing which led to this decision being made and if there was no fight to keep it in Southland.
He also queried if Mr Collier believed Great South honoured its constitution which stated it needed to conduct business in the best interest of Southland.
Mr Collier replied he "absolutely" believed it did that, but it had to support a resolution from NZFF to ensure the value of its shares.
The potential investor — which was still in negotiations — had brought a lot to the table and the scope of the project had changed, which led to Canterbury being better suited for it.
"The potential investor in this project made the conscious decision ... that the criteria for the relocation for the plant ... was better suited elsewhere."
He shared the disappointment about the decision, but Great South wanted to guarantee a return from the investment it made.
Later, Cr Grant Demordy asked about the value of the shares which Mr Collier declined to reveal.
Mr Collier said Southland would still provide about 75% of the oats to the factory.
"There is no question in my mind ... that Southland oats play a pivotal role."
Cr Peter Kett was disappointed with the losses of many job opportunities in the region and queried how Great South was allowed to be a minority shareholder in the project.
Mr Clark said he did not need to answer that question.
While the region did not get the desired outcome, there was still some value for the region in the project, but the communications around the relocation could have been better, he said.
Southland District Mayor Rob Scott, who is the chairman of the shareholders group, said he understood both the disappointment for many in the region and Great South’s position.
He was confident the decision made was in favour of the region.
