The Holcim cement factory site in Wesport could be used as an industrial park, for electricity generation or an eco park, locals say.
As the closure of Westport cement factory creeps closer, ideas keep circulating on how best the site might be used.
Holcim is an international company, headquartered in Switzerland, that owns about 400 hectares of land, the factory, buildings and a cluster of residential houses close to the Cape Foulwind, West Coast site.
When it deconstructs the cement making factory it wants to sell off the land, buildings and 10 houses for a few million dollars. More than 100 jobs will disappear.
The buildings have been suggested as a base for an industrial park, electricity generation or even an eco park where coal or waste are turned into other forms of energy.
Holcim general manager of cement Ross Pickworth said asset sale proceeds could be used towards the factory decommissioning and site rehabilitation which would cost some millions.
Much of the surrounding land was already leased to farmers, and there was interest to buy from farming groups, Pickworth said.
Buildings on the Holcim site could also be used by a new business including an industrial park.
"There's been a few ideas come up from interested parties on things that might happen, one of those being investigated at the moment is around a recycled fuel plant (or) a coal fired plant ...," he said.
"That's probably the most promising idea that someone has come up with yet (but) all of these things require a significant banker and some real credibility."
At least he thought there was "an opportunity for some sort of small commercial industrial site. We've got some good buildings and infrastructure there."
"The site will have some use, but our expectation is that the majority of our plant will get demolished because its a 60 year old cement (site)."
Holcim remained on track to close the plant early in the second half of 2016. But that date could "move out" depending on the planned commissioning of two new cement import terminals in Timaru and the Waitemata, Auckland in 2016, Pickworth said.
Holcim head of country for New Zealand Glenda Harvey said staff were also being offered to apply for positions at Holcim's Timaru and Auckland operations and also overseas including Australia. A couple had already won roles.
However, Buller mayor Garry Howard said there were underlying discussions about the need for new West Coast jobs. State-owned miner Solid Energy last week announced 113 job losses at its Stockton mine near Westport.
It was likely Holcim would maintain some staff even when the factory closure began around the middle of 2016 given the sizeable amount of decommissioning and restoration work needed, Howard said.
The Buller District council was in talks with various parties about opportunities including some on the Holcim land.
"We don't own any of the land at the site (but) we try to facilitate potential development."
One is former councillor John Hill (an industrial chemist) who suggests an eco industrial park for the site, to convert waste into energy. The Buller region already paid higher than usual electricity prices. West Coast coal could continue to be used at the Holcim kilns, converted for a coal fired electrical plant, he said.
Later the site could be converted to processing solid waste, perhaps railed from Canterbury, into energy, Hill has suggested. He has talked to French global group Veolia which had "expressed an interest" in the idea.
Howard said Holcim's restoration work on the site could also return some extra farmland. "Basically they have near enough to 400 hectares of land, and only approximately 10 hectares in plant and equipment. The balance is currently farmed (under a lease)," he said
The Holcim business with 111 staff has shown it can still hold its head up at an operational level. Last week it won a West Coast Leading Light supreme business award.
The cement factory has been operating for 57 years. Harvey and Pickworth said it was unlikely that Holcim would retain ownership of the site or remaining assets going forward.
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