Waitara, Whakatāne closures a sign of things to come?

New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom said the Waitara Valley closure was inevitable given the government’s apparent desire to shut the oil and gas sector “as soon as possible”.

Gavin Evans

Mon, 01 Mar 2021

Plant closures in Waitara and Whakatāne look set to cost another 250 high-paying jobs in regions that can ill afford to lose them.Hopefully, the Waitara Valley methanol plant may re-start in coming years — if gas development and the government’s confused energy and climate policy allow. But the closure of Whakatāne’s 82-year-old carton board mill looks like a done deal. Despite many years effort to reduce costs — particularly energy use — and more recent efforts to find a buyer, Swiss packaging giant SIG Combi...

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