Gary Petley: South Waikato mayor on Carter Holt Harvey looking to close Tokoroa manufacturing plant

There's concern South Waikato's Tokoroa is facing another factory closure, with more than 100 jobs on the chopping block.

Carter Holt Harvey is looking at closing its plywood manufacturing plant, the company has told staff.

South Waikato mayor Gary Petley says he doesn't know all the details, but it's another blow for the region.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The bad news just keeps coming for Tako or Cardhold,
Harvey today announced it's closing its plywood manufacturing plant. Instead,
what it's going to do is import cheap, ap plywood
from Australia. Now, that means about one hundred, maybe one
hundred and twenty jobs are going to be lost. That's
already on top of seventy people who'd already been made
redundant at Christmas last year. Gary Petley is the South
White cattle man with us.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Now, Hey, Gary, hither hell are you?

Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm very well? Thank you all man? You sound bummed out,
are you?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Oh? I just can't get a trick at the moment, mate, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
It feels like that. Eh, Now what's going on? Is
it just that much cheaper to import the plywood?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Is it? Oh? Yeah, Well, apparently we can only go
on with the what they're saying and what their figures are,
and I haven't had a lot of detail apart from
the fact that they are losing jobs. So I guess
when you add that on to the what happened in
the paper mall and then potential closing of Toyo Hall

(00:56):
My Services and Toko Or, it doesn't ring that well
for the council. But we've we've got some positive things
to and everything that's you know, when it's a negative,
we try and find the positive. So we have an
industrial development there that's been on on the go for
about a year now, developing that for new business. The

(01:16):
vander Heyden families. They're looking at doing an industrial park
on the southern boundary of the Psarad township, which will
all which will bring jobs. So it's not all not
all doom and gloom.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
What happens at this industrial park.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
There's going to be new new businesses that are coming here.
They haven't no announcements have been made yet because they're
leaving that for when they start building.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So I'm going to take how long Gary before they
actually get the thing up and running.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Everything is, everything is, everything is ready to go. Should
be finished by the infrastructure, which should be completed by
the end of this year to the beginning of next year,
and then they will come in and start building what
they need to build, put all their plants in place.
The one in Patata, who is the turning of the
side towards the end of end of September now, and

(02:10):
the timing hasn't been great, but these these things have
been in train for a little while now and discuss
something we had over over probably two years. So we're
chasing ourselves a little bit around in the circle to
try and make things happen. But we'll continue to do that.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
How many jobs have you guys lost? Just run me
through it because I can't quite remember. Did og Fiber
also close the paper mill?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, they closed the paint meal down. There was the
last patent machine, number six paint machine and that was
down with about one hundred and one hundred and fifty
something jobs in the end, and then and then with
the ploid mill, probably another another hundred that will cop
that will keep about twenty a small small work for

(03:00):
some on to rework rework the pl that comes in
from from Australia and then get it up to New
Zealand Speck and then then on sell it.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
And then you also have toy or Hoomi Toyo.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
We've got to we've got to work in party, working
towards with Toyo m I too to basically work out
what what courses we actually need and talk it all
and then and Minister Upston has said that there's funding
available to do that they just want to hear from
the community as to what's relevant.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
All right, Well, listen best of like Gary, because that
is a tough time for a town like yours. Gary Petley,
Southway cattleme.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
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Speaker 1 (03:45):
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