Timbercorp rescue scheme seeks support
The consortium that plans to rescue the Timbercorp forestry schemes will be holding growers meetings in most capital cities next week.
The initial meetings will be held in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth by TC Growers and reference groups formed to sort out agreements between the growers and the consortium. The reference groups will consist of representatives of growers, which will include advisers.
TC Growers is made up of FIRST Super, Penola Pulp Mill, Timbercorp forestry workers and an unnamed international investor with interests in Australian forestry.
In a letter to growers sent out last night, the consortium plans to offer forestry investors in the failed agribusiness manager three options for their investment.
The first option is the grower stays in the scheme and pays rent and maintenance costs on their plots until the trees are harvested.
Option two is for the grower to use the ‘hardship provisions’ in their current contract with Timbercorp to ask the manager to pay rent and maintenance, which will then be deducted from harvest proceeds.
The third option is to sell the trees to the consortium.
John Roche from the Penola Pulp Mill said growers must not make quick decisions about the future of their investments.
"While there is a great impetus to act quickly, we believe it is in everyone’s interest to take stock of their positions and make informed choices [about] how they wish to proceed,” he said in the letter.
“It is proposed that a mutually acceptable independent forestry valuer be retained to measure and value each project using industry standard practices.”
Roche said once the valuations had been completed, growers would then be offered the opportunity to sell their trees to the consortium at a negotiated price.
“This evaluation will also allow growers to assess the prospect of continuing with the payment of rents and maintenance until harvest,” he said.
“Alternatively, they can request the new manager pay rent and maintenance until harvest, recouping those costs together with interest from the proceeds of timber sales.”
The consortium plans to appoint a new responsible entity to the schemes to replace administrator Korda Mentha, which is currently acting in the role.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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