THE community has been deeply concerned by this week’s announcement that Willmott Forests has gone into receivership.
The news broke on Monday that the company had been placed in receivership by the Commonwealth Bank and St George, who it owes an estimated $120 million.
Mark Korda, Mark Mentha and Bryan Webster of KordaMentha were appointed receivers and managers of the Willmott Forests group of companies after our deadlines on Monday.
Of course the announcement sparked instant fears for the current sawmill and plantation jobs in Bombala, as well as concerns that the mill development proposed for the area would be lost.
However, Bombala Council Mayor, Bob Stewart assures us that impact of the news will not be as dramatic or negative for the district as it may seem.
Firstly Cr Stewart confirms that he has had solid word from TASCO, which operates the Sandy Lane mill in Bombala, that indicates the current mill will continue “business as usual”.
The company has expressed it still has very strong interest in remaining in Bombala, and operations at Sandy Lane will continue with none of the broad scale job losses that have been feared.
When it comes to plantation jobs, however, there was less certainty, with little confirmed information available at the time of printing.
Cr Stewart said that he would envisage the receivers would continue to use current staff to manage the plantations in the district while the receivership process takes place.
After that point, he hopes that the company which eventually buys the plantations through the receivers will see the worth in keeping on staff with local knowledge.
“I hope the administrators while dealing with this situation keep local people employed on the plantation side of things, and future companies will understand the value of retaining these loyal workers,” he said.
Perhaps the biggest fear for some has been for the multimillion dollar proposed mill development which Willmott Forests and Korean company, Dongwha were set to bring to the area.
The Development Application for the project has been in the process of getting approved for a lengthy amount of time, and many feared that the receivership announcement on Monday would spell the end of the project, or at least a pause in the process.
Not so, says Cr Stewart. He assures the community that the Development Application approval process can continue unhindered, and indeed he hopes it will be approved in the very near future.
Cr Stewart explains that TASCO – effectively the Australian arm of Dongwha – is still more than enthusiastic about investing in the area and continuing the proposed development.
Cr Stewart says approval does not rely on the financial security of the companies making the Development Application, as approval is conditional.
He says Dongwha looks forward to approval being given soon, and will be negotiating with the receivers.
Meanwhile, Cr Stewart said that it was regretful news that Willmott Forests had come to be in this financial position, as overall the company had been very committed to the area.
“Willmott’s dedication and contribution to our area over many years deserves to be acknowledged, and we must also be appreciative of the company bringing TASCO into the district,” Cr Stewart said.
“It is now imperative that the State Government announces the approval of the DA for the proposed new softwood facility as soon as possible.”
The announcement of the receivership was made after our deadlines on Monday, and more will be printed in next week’s Bombala Times.
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