Central Hawke's Bay mayor Alex Walker said she was "devastated" to hear about the OIO decision. Photo / Warren Buckland
Central Hawke's Bay mayor Alex Walker said she was "devastated" to hear about the OIO decision. Photo / Warren Buckland
Central Hawke’s Bay’s mayor says the Overseas Investment Office’s approval of the sale of a renowned farming station to Dutch-owned forestry giants is “devastating”.
In a statement to Hawke’s Bay Today, Mayor Alex Walker said the effects of the purchase of Wallingford Station by Ingka InvestmentsForest Assets NZ and Ingka Investments Management NZ would be significant.
Both companies are owned by Ingka Investments B.V., the investment arm of Ingka Group, which is the largest franchisee of Ikea stores internationally.
The Overseas Investment Office decision clears the sale of 606 hectares of Wallingford Station land on Pōrangahau Rd as part of a wider span of purchases in New Zealand and in the region for $9.9m.
“Quite frankly this is devastating. This property adds to the several hundred hectares already purchased for planting in this catchment,” Walker said.
The applicants (Ingka) plan to establish and maintain 416.9ha of rotation forest during the 2024-25 planting seasons, and trees will be harvested after 27 to 30 years, with replanting occurring following harvest.
Walker said the level of intensive monoculture planting that would take place as a result of this sale and others was a risk for the district’s environment and for the community.
A stone seat built to commemorate Wallingford Station. Photo / Warren Buckland
She said it would also crowd out many consistent and diverse farm employment opportunities that were crucial to a rural community.
“This level of overseas investment is also pushing up prices and pushing out any potential local farm buyers,” Walker said.
“Hill country like this in Central Hawke’s Bay has traditionally been the frontier of first-time farm buyers but at this level of pricing even neighbours with high equity and potential for economies of scale cannot afford to compete in the market.”
Walker said that while she was pleased the OIO continued to enforce tight rules for protecting the region’s highly productive soils (with the LUC 2 and 3 areas having to be subdivided and on-sold), this created fragmented land lots that were a struggle to put to sustainable farming operations when at small size.
“This is not helping us to build a resilient and thriving economy and community,” she said.
Wallingford Station and Homestead owner Gareth Dunkerley said he did not wish to speak to media about the sale.
The buyer, Ingka’s, legal counsel, DLA Piper, was approached for comment.
Ingka Investments forestland investment manager Andriy Hrytsyuk said at a previous visit to the country that, biologically, New Zealand was one of the best places to grow trees and that the country offered a great opportunity to continue its forestation programme.
