Wairarapa MP John Hayes and the region's three mayors are demanding UCOL pay back $570,000 the councils have invested in bringing a cuisine school to Wairarapa.
UCOL announced on Monday they were moving the planned Le Cordon Bleu cuisine school from Martinborough to Wellington.
The decision comes despite the school being born out of a marketing project known as Wairarapa Cuisine and Fine Wine managed by the former Go Wairarapa and contributed to by the district councils, along with close to $2 million from Trade and Enterprise regional development fund.
South Wairarapa paid $150,000, Carterton $125,000 and Masterton $300,000 over three years although the final $100,000 paid by Masterton last year was used to settle Go Wairarapa's debts.
"It's all very well for UCOL to toddle off into the sunset," Mr Hayes said, "but they need to pay back the money invested by councils and reimburse Wairarapa for the time and energy people freely gave putting together a syllabus that was going to be unique in the world to Martinborough."
Mr Hayes said the $2 million regional development money also belongs in Wairarapa, not Wellington.
"What we should be doing now is saying 'we want that money back here so we can have our own regional initiative'."
Wairarapa Cuisine and fine wine was an MRI Major Regional Initiative started by Go Wairarapa and since transferred to Grow Wellington, as the Government has now changed its regional policy to fund bigger regions and Wairarapa councils have signed up to the Wellington Regional Strategy.
South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples was equally angry, saying she intends to bill UCOL for the money spent by South Wairarapa.
"I haven't formally asked for (the money) yet, but I've been told informally that I won't get it back," Ms Staples said.
"This project was going to help the whole of Wairarapa, not just Martinborough."
Masterton Mayor Garry Daniell said while he knows "in my heart" the school has been lost to Wairarapa, "we're still in the boxing ring right at this stage I don't totally agree that the deal is dead yet".
Mr Daniell said he had spoken to Tertiary Education Minister Pete Hodgson. "It's clear that UCOL had not consulted the minister about (the move)."
Carterton Mayor Gary McPhee said he hoped Carterton would get its regional initiative money back, but he wasn't sure how likely it is. "It's ratepayers' money put in for a purpose."
According to UCOL cuisine school project manager Christine Beech, in November 2006 New Zealand CONTINUED P3
Give us our money back, says MP
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