westport awaits their white knight

Holcim Delay good news - Mayor



"by Lee Scanlon
Another delay in Holcim?s decision on whether
to move from Westport to Weston, near Oamaru,
is good news for Westport, says Buller Mayor Pat
McManus.
?Any delay is always good for Westport,? he said.
?As I?ve always said before, at some stage Holcim?s
going to leave us, but the longer we can hold on to
them the better.?
Holcim Ltd, the Swiss parent of Holcim NZ,
reviewed the Weston project last week and asked for
more information on costs.
A fi nal decision from the board is now expected at
the end of this year or early next year.
Mr McManus said the delay shortened the opening
of a new Denniston coal mine, planned by Bathurst
Resources? company Buller Coal Ltd, and any Holcim
relocation.
?If Bathurst were up and going by then, and employing
200 or 300 people, that more than mitigates what
we are losing?
?It would be lovely to keep Holcim and Bathurst too
? then we?d be really steaming ahead. But the reality
is that Holcim will go sometime because they rely on
a fi nite resource (limestone).?
The delay was also good for Westport harbour,
of which Holcim was the main customer, he said. It
gave the port more time to tee up proposed export
coal shipments.
Meanwhile, the port needed income to maintain
dredging, both for shipping and to alleviate Westport?s
fl ood risk from the Buller River.
?I don?t think the ratepayers would like to pay the $1
million a year. It is important we do have some cargo
going through the port and the longer we can do that
the better.?
However, Mr McManus said he felt sorry for the
130 workers at the Cape Foulwind cement works,
who still had no idea when, or if, their jobs would go.
Holcim should let them know as soon as possible
whether Weston was going ahead, he said."


- Bathurst mine needed to alleviate the cement works shut down

- Bathurst mine need to justify port dredging works to alleviate flooding

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