12 Mar 2014

Investors sought for Ruataniwha scheme

2:28 pm on 12 March 2014

The company hoping to set up the Ruataniwha water storage scheme in Hawke's Bay has called for expressions of interest from potential investors.

The scheme could irrigate 30,000 hectares of farmland if approved.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Investment Company wants to judge the demand among potential investors, who could include people living in the planned scheme's footprint, farmers taking water from it, and Hawke's Bay locals deemed wealthy under the Securities Act.

The minimum investment would be $50,000.

The chair of the investment company, Andy Pearce, says it would make sense for farmers looking to take water from the scheme to invest. "The value of the shares is a natural hedge against an increase in the water price over the life of the scheme, so if you can afford it as a farmer, it would make financial sense."

A board of inquiry hearing into the planned scheme is still ongoing and the Ruataniwha dam has yet to be given the green light, but Mr Pearce says the call for expressions of investor interest is just part of the company's workstream running parallel to the hearing.