News
$1 million for new mining training facility on the Coast
Development West Coast is to donate $1 million to the Mines Rescue Trust to build a multi-purpose training facility at its Rapahoe base near Greymouth.
In the wake of the Pike River Mine tragedy, in which 29 men lost their lives, Development West Coast (DWC) allocated funding of $1 million to the Pike River Distribution Fund.
The Fund administers have decided to distribute the $1 million to the Mines Rescue Trust to establish a multi-purpose training facility that will assist the mining industry with their current and future training requirements.
Fund chairman and DWC Trustee, Mark Lockington, says the Trust felt it was important to recognise the severity of the disaster and its impact on families, the community and the local economy.
"DWC believes the training facility will be a real and enduring benefit to the Coast. This is a meaningful way we can assist the mining industry and the local economy," he says.
"It was hoped the Pike River Distribution Fund could be used to stimulate and develop business activity on the West Coast, especially those supporting the mining industry. We saw this training facility as an ideal way to achieve those aims."
New Zealand Mines Rescue Service General Manager Trevor Watts says he is delighted DWC has decided to fund the new facility.
"The training centre will allow us to provide the industry with a state-of-the-art training facility while still maintaining our core capability as a rescue organisation. The more education and knowledge in the industry the more we can raise safety awareness with the ultimate aim of preventing incidents from occurring," he says.
"The new facility will enable Mines Rescue to provide high quality training to the industry in both underground and surface extraction. Our goal is to provide a wider variety of industry training than we already do, from basic induction training to Certificates of Competency for those already in the industry. It is our intention to make the training facilities available to other trainers with specialist expertise in the extractive industries".
Currently Mines Rescue operates a small training facility at Rapahoe including a small underground training tunnel. The new facility will be purpose built with the potential to include a virtual reality training theatre allowing miners to experience real life dangers in a controlled environment. This technology is used extensively in Australia and is an additional tool to enhance industry training.
For more information contact:
Mark Lockington, Fund Chairman and DWC Trustee - Phone: 027 282 2325
Trevor Watts, NZ Mines Rescue Services General Manager - Phone: 021 366 500
Local trust purchases the Last Resort - 18 November 2011
Karamea's Last Resort business has been purchased by the Oparara Trust which will take over management of the tourist business from its receivers on Monday 21st November.
The Oparara Trust (formally known as the Oparara Valley Project Trust) is a charitable trust that was formed in 2002 to promote tourism and employment in the Northern Buller region. It manages the Oparara Guided Tours and has upgraded and developed new tracks in the Oparara Basin.
The Oparara Trust will lease the 31-unit complex from the property owner Development West Coast.
"We have had excellent dealings in the past with the Oparara Trust and are delighted it has purchased the Last Resort business from the receivers. DWC considers The Last Resort to be a significant employer in the region and is committed to supporting the Karamea area, "says DWC CEO Dr John Chang.
Chair of the Oparara Trust, Rosalie Sampson, says the Last Resort is crucial to tourism in Karamea. "It is a really positive move, we see the Last Resort as a natural fit for the Trust and wanted to ensure it stayed open and in local hands," she says.
The Oparara Trust did not receive any financial assistance from DWC to purchase the Last Resort however DWC will continue to be its landlord.
"We feel very confident about the Last Resort's future and have recruited experienced hoteliers Dave and Betty Watson to manage the complex. Any profits that are made will go back to community groups," says Mrs Sampson.
Any further inquiries regarding the receivership should be directed to the receiver Malcolm Hollis at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Christchurch.
Development West Coast assets continue to grow - 31 August 2011
Development West Coast has achieved another year of steady returns, continuing to grow the Trust's assets.
The Trust has today released its annual report for the year ended March 2011. DWC ended the financial year with total net assets of $115.92m. This represents an increase of $2.9m from the previous financial years result of $112.99m.
"This was a very strong result in a year of ongoing financial market uncertainty," says DWC CEO John Chang.
Total income of $7.3m together with unrealised gains from investments of $4.1m delivered total consolidated revenue of $11.4m. The total operating expenses for DWC were $2.40m compared to $2.47m the year before.
"This translates to a 17% decline in total operating expenses since 2009. What is even more pleasing is that this was achieved without the loss of key services or activities that deliver economic benefits to West Coats communities," says Dr Chang.
The Trust made its' largest ever community distribution allocating $5.34m to the region in comparison to the previous year of $3.02m. This was due to a number of substantial unbudgeted community grants including $1m to a Pike River Mine relief fund, $1.5m to two regional cycle-way projects and $100,000 to the Canterbury earthquake relief fund.
"These unbudgeted community distributions of $2.6m did have a negative financial impact on DWC's bottom-line. However, Trustees are confident with solid advice received that they have made the correct decisions," says Dr Chang.
The 2011/12 financial year will also see significant community distributions. Trustees have committed to an extraordinary distribution of $6m which will see Buller, Grey and Westland District Council's provided with a special one-off fund of $2 million each. The $2 million is expected to provide an economic boost to the three districts through to March 2016 and enable each district to fund various community assets and projects at their discretion.
For more information contact :
Dr John Chang, Development West Coast CEO
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