Now, while the site is eerily quiet with just a skeleton staff operating its offices, Mr Hudson told the Rotorua Daily Post the company was truly sorry for the distress it had caused.
He said the Lumbercube operation would rise from the ashes, but he could not say when or where.
"The concept of Lumbercube, and what we embarked on to achieve, we are very proud of and have learned a lot.
"But what we really want to do is say sorry for where we are today," Mr Hudson said.
"Doing what we did, we did not take lightly. It hurt on a lot of levels.
"We are genuinely sorry and it was a big shock for all of us.
"We've said sorry to our people, we always see them as our people, even though they are no longer with us, and we are also sorry to the community for obvious reasons; the disruption and the noise that caused a lot of aggravation for some people."
There are still tens of millions of dollars worth of plant and machinery sitting idle on the site, but Mr Hudson said plans were in place to put it all to good use once again. But reopening the mill on the Vaughan Rd site was not an option, he said.
"It won't get turned back on here at this site," he said.
"We are working on the when and where and we will be happy to talk more in the future when we are in a position to do so.
"We are not under time pressure; the movable parts are still here."
Mr Hudson said the prototype mill that cuts logs into cubes of different sizes for ease of transport, was the first in the world of its type and the company had "taken a lot of learnings away and the key with those learnings is that you have to take advantage of them".
"We have learned the concept of Lumbercube works but, the execution in a number of areas didn't."
He said Lumbercube had a "bright future, but I can't tell you more about that apart from that it's something we are working on".
"Part of what we learned was about innovative technology and the challenges and opportunities that represents.
"We learned what an ideal location might look like. Ideally you'd like to be closer to log supply, customers and an efficient port.
"We are a forestry business and I think Lumbercube has a role in the industry and brings a lot of benefits, from an efficiency point of view, to residual customers in pulp and paper, and there's a lot less trucks on the road."
Mr Hudson also revealed why the mill was so suddenly shut down.
"The mill was compliant, but there's a big difference between that and it affecting some people and the fact you could hear it, we can't deny that at all.
"I can't give you a lot of detail, but at the time it closed it was triggered by a commercial disagreement over wood chips.
"We had an improvement programme running at the same time and were actively investing resources, capital and people into that.
"The key reason was at the time it closed was a commercial wood chip dispute."
Rotorua deputy mayor and economic development portfolio leader Dave Donaldson said he welcomed the news and the apology was an important gesture of goodwill.
"I'm delighted they are in a position to get production going again.
"Given all the commercial sensitivity around such a development, it's very pleasing Gavin [Hudson] has stated the site will not be re-opened in Ngapuna and that will reassure a lot of the people who were very distressed by what was clearly marked as a trial mill.
"It's great they have learned from that ... and also about the effects of a heavy industrial plant on neighbouring communities."
Eastside Community Association chairman Ra Daniels said he wished the company the best of luck setting up its new site and the apology was a nice gesture.
"The people of Ngapuna, Lynmore and the eastern suburbs would be pleased they acknowledged that it did cause distress and that it was a pretty unpleasant time for everyone.
"However, if they can make this opportunity work and continue to employ locals without any pollution effects, then good on them."
Lumbercube
- Started operating its prototype mill on the old Tachikawa site on Vaughan Rd in September 2015
- Started a night shift operation in March 2016
- More than 3400 noise complaints received by Rotorua Lakes Council
- The company spent almost $3 million on noise reduction
- Closed suddenly, with the loss of about 80 jobs, April 30, 2016
