The construction company at the centre of a battle over the Hawke's Bay Regional Council building on Dalton St has been liquidated.
A lawyer for Herbert Construction appeared in court yesterday and asked to have the liquidation hearing adjourned for a further month.
Herbert Construction's lawyer, Daniel Kerr, said the company was planning a compromise using funds from offshore interests in Fijian-based companies to pay back its indebted creditors.
The adjournment was opposed by lawyers representing various creditors present in court who said Herbert Construction's promise of a compromise was all "smoke and mirrors".
Lawyer, Bruce Gilmour, represented creditor Carter Holt Harvey yesterday and said Herbert Construction was just "delaying the inevitable".
He said the only reason Herbert Construction wanted a further adjournment was to stop liquidators gaining access to the company to assess its real worth.
Mr Gilmour said Herbert Construction is $3.6 million in debt with minimal assets.
Associate Judge Osborne said he did not think there was any "real weight" to claims Herbert Construction could pay the money and ordered the liquidation.
Herbert Construction had also been embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with the Hawke's Bay Regional Council following the construction of the council's Dalton St building in 2005.
The building was soon discovered to be leaky.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council contracted another company to take charge of the repairs, which are still underway. The council said Herbert Construction's liquidation would not have an effect on its progress.
But it may have an effect on the council's battle to regain costs for the repairs. Interim Chief Executive Liz Lambert said the "possible impact of Herbert Construction going into liquidation is that it may well reduce the level of costs that can be recovered".