Crafar loses bid to fend off eviction

Allan Crafar Photo / Christine Cornege

Financially-troubled dairy farmer Allan Crafar has failed in his bid to have a notice to evict him from one his home farm thrown out.

Mr Crafar headed the family's network of farms - the nation's biggest private dairy operation - when it went into receivership 14 months ago and is still fighting to remain on his former property at Reporoa.

The receivers, KordaMentha, went to the High Court at Rotorua to have the family removed from their property, where Mr Crafar claimed the family had signed a "lifetime" lease agreement with their company Plateau Farms in 2006.

Today he unsuccessfully sought to have the application from KordaMentha struck out in court in Rotorua.

The lawyer acting for the receivers, Mark Sandelin, said: "Mr Crafar's application to strike out the receivers' proceedings was dismissed, and the receivers have been told they are entitled to proceed with their case."

Associate Judge Anthony Christiansen indicated the Crafar application lacked merit, Mr Sandelin said.

He said timeframes had not been set for hearing other aspects of the case involving seeking orders for the filing of further documents, discovery and inspections.

However a telephone conference has been set down for April 23 next year.

Mr Crafar has been representing himself after he said he he was denied legal aid.

He said before the hearing that the receivers had argued that the "lifetime" lease should not have been signed because it was to the detriment of the lender using the property as security.

Mr Crafar has said he was negotiating with an American backer to trade his way out of debt, but it was not a quick process.

In the meantime he was working for his son, who is a sharemilker for the receivers.

"Basically we are living out of our freezer and on charity. We caught three wild pigs on the side of the road the other day and put them in the pot," he said.

"We have about $300 left in the bank.

"We don't have money stashed under the mattress like some people seem to think."

- NZPA / NZ HERALD ONLINE