Puhoi to Warkworth road consortium gets OIO approval
The consortium will design, build and finance the road.
The Overseas Investment Office has approved the sale of 1700 hectares of land to the consortium building and maintaining the Puhoi to Warkworth road, part of the road connecting Auckland to Northland.
The NX2 Consortium is paying "in excess of $100 million" for the leasehold rights, with a further $100 million to be spent on developing the land before the $750 million roading project starts.
The consortium includes the Accident Compensation Corporation, which holds 38.3%, Public Infrastructure Partners II LP at 38.3%, Spain's ACCIONA S.A at 10% and Fletcher Building and others at 13.4%.
It will design, build and finance the road, a process that's expected to take five years, before managing and maintaining the road for a 25-year term. The road is deemed one of New Zealand's seven roads of national significance.
The Overseas Investment Office said it was satisfied the criteria of substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand had been met. This includes jobs, new technology or business skills and greater efficiency or productivity. The OIO was also satisfied that it met criteria under strategically important infrastructure, advance significant government policy or strategy and economic interests.
In September a board of inquiry approved the Transport Agency's proposal to build the 18.5km extension of the Northern Motorway from the Johnstone's Hill tunnels at Puhoi to just north of Warkworth after receiving more than 180 submissions. Investigations are under way on a Warkworth to Wellsford section.
In a separate approval, the OIO approved Chinese government-owned Waste Management NZ's purchase of 185 hectares of land at the Tirohia Landfill in Hauraki. The office said the investment would lead to the increased capture of greenhouse gas and its conversion to electricity.
(BusinessDesk)
Edwin Mitson
Thu, 01 Dec 2016
Thu, 01 Dec 2016
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