Rex Graham: Farmers must make the right call

Rex Graham

So the valuer Greg Morice advocates that some farmers should buy water from the Ruatanawha dam project so they can quickly sell their farm and make a big capital gain. Firstly this might or might not work but regardless of this, may I remind him that the $80 million that HB ratepayers are putting in to this dam is termed "social capital" as it is heavily subsidised and was intended to be the cornerstone investment for economic development in Central HB. This ratepayer capital which mostly comes out of Napier was never meant to be a vehicle for a few comparably wealthy farmers to make an additional quick capital gain for their retirement.

The proposal from Mr Morice is mischievous and I am only thankful that most farmers will see this for what it is. And more to the point it could be very bad advice as the water user contract could be seen by many new farm investors as a bad deal and a liability if attached to the farm balance sheet.

It does, however, seem that despite the Greg Morices of this world, many of these farmers in Central HB are far too savvy to be enticed into these long term water contracts to buy water that is not only expensive but that you must pay for even if you don't use it.

We need water storage but we don't need this particular grandiose project promoted by a few.

When I was first elected I advocated for a referendum on this issue. It was after all the biggest investment that the region had ever undertaken with huge risk and huge potential environmental impact. "No chance of that mate" I was told by the chairman at my first meeting, it clearly did not fit the model or the programme and a slim majority of councillors would never have supported a referendum on investing in the dam.

So $15 million later, it goes on and on, financial close extension after extension, with no end in sight and whilst the five supporting councillors remain staunch there is absolutely nothing the rest of us can do about it.

We can only be thankful for those savvy Central HB farmers in whose hands the final decision now lays .

-Rex Graham is a Hawke's Bay regional councillor

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